The Inferno of Passion

If it doesn't bring you joy, why are you doing it?

Jon Soto

Sep 14, 2024

To the deep thinkers,

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I sigh as I stare at the Slack notifications and emails that greet me each morning.

I sit and wonder if this is all there will ever be for me.

At 9 a.m. I say goodbye to my writing, knowing it's time to take on the mantle of corporate soldier for the next eight hours.

I sigh once more as I think about myself a decade ago. I’ve always been a dreamer. But I’ve always been afraid to bet on myself. To take the risks necessary to radically change my life.

I get lost thinking about all the paths I could’ve taken before the weight of adulthood found a home on my shoulders.

Then it's time to snap out of my trance and get to work.

Ever since I joined the 30-club, I’ve been thinking a lot about death. Not in a morbid sort of way. No. More from a place of genuine curiosity.

As we move on from this world what images flash before our eyes? What regrets feel impossible to shake? Are their apologies left unsaid, feelings left locked away, love left to give?

How many people could honestly say—if given a second chance—that they'd do everything exactly the same? If I were to guess, I'd say very few.

Life is precious, short, and not repeatable. So, why would we do anything but the things we love? Why would we spend our life energy (a nonrenewable resource) living a life we have no passion for?

I don't get it. Yet I'm stuck in the same exact rat race—waking up to make a living rather than waking up to make a life. Spending most of my time building somebody else's dream rather than building my own.

I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid that I’ll get to the end of the road and the regret of all those dreams I let wilt away will shatter my heart.

Soulless and programmed

Do something you really like and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I am concerned that is success. — Tom Petty

How long have we as a species argued over the purpose for our existence? We have warred and fought—over and over again—all over who has the right answer.

Religion. Politics. Ideologies. The ideology of 'The American Dream.' The religion of capitalism. Working a lot for a little and using that as some kind of sick badge of honor.

It is a travesty to think that we can go our whole lives feeding a system that doesn’t care about us, isn’t looking out for our well-being, is actively working to suppress our originality, and never realize what is happening. Or worse yet, realizing it and doing nothing about it.

When we get stuck within the system and don’t make time for anything we’re passionate about, life becomes a slog. There is no spark. No joy. No gratitude. Only survival.

Days bleed into each other. Years do the same. Next thing you know a decade has passed and we have no idea where the years have gone.

We only get one trip while we’re here. The time and energy you give to the things that steal your joy—you can't get it back. There is no Time Store giving out refunds.

The sad thing is most of us understand this. We know we can't go back in time. We know life is short. Still, we stay nice and snug in what we know—in what feels “safe.”

Because to radically change your life requires the willingness to see a lot of what you are familiar with burned to the ground.

And that’s not a decision anyone should take lightly.

The willingness to burn

A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. — Carl Jung

To burn with passion for something you love is to feel alive. Whatever your passion is, imagine it burning up everything inside of you. Your limiting beliefs, borrowed ideologies, the version of you too scared to take risks—burned away.

Let your passion burn until all that is left is a field of ash ready for a new beginning. What kind of life do you want to build in this field?

Before you can walk through the inferno of your passions, you must know yourself. Meditate, journal, and analyze your dreams. Make time for the things that bring you joy. Forgive yourself for the times you've gotten it wrong. It’s not the mistakes that ruin you. It’s giving up on yourself that does.

It’s during moments of deep self-reflection that the barriers we’ve built come crumbling down, exposing the raw and vulnerable state of who we really are and what we really want to do with our time here in this world.

If you don’t know who you are or what you want, it’s easy to lose yourself in the projections of others.

Like Carl Jung said:

The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, the world will tell you.

Liberation and solitude

I want to be very clear:

Working a 9-5 isn’t inherently a bad thing. For many of us (myself included) it is how we are surviving. And some of us are blessed enough that our day jobs afford us the balance to pursue our passions on the side if we so choose.

That’s the key. The choice to pursue what you love.

Nobody can make that choice for you. You have to be the one to look at your life and decide if you’re happy with what you see. If you’re ok with riding out the rest of your life at a job you hate, then go ahead.

If you want to devote yourself to a life path that brings you joy—maybe a creative path or a transformative goal—then take the leap.

Detangle and liberate yourself from the web of societal pressures. Spend time in solitude. Withdraw from the world for a couple of days or a week if you can. Remove yourself from your parents, your friends...from everybody.

Sit with yourself and probe your mind, heart, and spirit. Reflect on what you value in life.

Furthermore, when it comes to how you want to live your life, you can’t worry about the opinions of others—especially those who aren’t living the kind of life you want to live. You can’t be so worried about self-preservation that you are too afraid to take risks. Devote yourself to your mission, whatever that looks like for you.

Find what you are passionate about and bring it into your life. Let it take over. Let it burn all that isn’t aligned with the life you want to live.

It may hurt, but that burn tells you you’re on the right path. It reminds you that you’re alive.

What stood out to me this week:

On only having a few close friends:

On distractions:

What we learn is that being distracted by the position or status of others diminishes the dignity of anything you achieve, regardless of whether you are better or worse than them. And that my friends, is the untold price of distraction: it takes the grace out of your actions.

- Zan Tafakari, The Untold Price of Distraction (Substack)

🎵Song of the week:

Thank you for your time. Let me know how this post resonated with you or share it with a friend.

Stay blessed and enjoy your weekend.

Deep Thinkers