The Detour Project

Explore your passions and cultivate your natural talents

Exploring our passions and cultivating our natural talents leads to a sense of purpose in our lives, and purpose motivates us and feeds our souls. My passions for writing and music led me to where I’m at and what I’m doing today. It has helped me express myself, make sense of things that didn’t make sense, and find direction. I have a sense of pride and accomplishment and self-worth as a result of all of this. Has it made me a millionaire or a celebrity? Certainly not, but that’s not the point. The point is to find a positive, healthy way to express yourself and live with purpose.

I’m passionate about words and music. I can get lost for hours at a time with writing and music. I enjoy writing (songs, journaling, stories, articles, etc.) and I enjoy playing my guitar and singing. I love writing my own songs, and I love learning how to play and sing songs by others that move and inspire me.

I know that not everyone is a writer or a musician, but everybody is capable of creating something and each of us possesses natural talents. What inspires you? What are you passionate about? What kind of creative process or activity can you get lost in for hours on end? Perhaps it is cooking, photography, painting, drawing, illustrating, making jewelry, ceramics, pottery, sculpture, crocheting or knitting, carpentry, restoring cars or rebuilding engines, gardening, crafting, graphic design, fashion… this list can go on and on, but again, the point is we are all passionate about something and we each posses natural talents. Explore what excites you and chase it.

Getting “lost” in something that moves or inspires you is often also referred to as “flow”. Distractions seem to fade away and all of your focus goes into your project. Finding creative activities that we are passionate about helps us express ourselves in a healthy way, it helps relieve stress, and it creates a sense of accomplishment, because whatever we have done, whatever we created, has never existed before. There is no wrong or right way. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is. It doesn’t matter what other people think about it. YOU created it, and that’s an amazing thing.

Take some time to explore the things that you are passionate about, start creating and don’t judge yourself by the ability of others. Do it without expectations or judgment. Do it simply for the sake of doing it. At this point in my life, I’m not making a living as a musician, but that does not stop me from following my passion. I still play my guitar, I still write songs, I still record music, and I still perform. I still write (in some form another) every single day. I write when inspiration hits, I listen to what’s in my heart and the sounds that the world makes, I listen to people and become inspired, and I create – without expectation or judgment. I do it because it feeds my soul, because it creates a sense of peace and accomplishment. I do it because it feels good.

For me, the most difficult part of creating something was learning how to just start doing it. I would think about an idea for a song, or something that I wanted to write and I would think about it for hours or days or weeks and end up putting it off and procrastinating because I was afraid of how much work I would need to put into this thing to get it finished. I would focus on everything that I had to accomplish in order to finish the project, instead of just getting started, and it would send me into a spiral of procrastination.

Eventually I learned that all I had to do was START, and the rest would follow, naturally. There is always time to tweak, and edit, and re-do, etc. Some projects get done in one sitting, some projects take a couple of days or weeks or months, some get re-visited after a few years from a new perspective and all the sudden it feels right, some projects simply don’t get finished, and all of that is OK.

I hear people say to others sometimes “oh, I wish I had your talent (or passion, or ability).” This is a negative and self-defeating statement. EVERYBODY possesses talent in some form. Everyone is creative in some way. Look inside and ask yourself, “What am I passionate about?” and then follow that, wherever it takes you. Explore, practice, refine, take classes or lessons, join a club or group, and read up about what others are doing who are passionate about the same things. Do it without an agenda or expectations and surround yourself with people who share your passions, and people whose passions you can share.

Next: Cultivate positive, meaningful relationships

** this post is an excerpt from Building a Foundation for Happiness