The Cost of Passion

DISCLAIMER: This article is about what I learned from focusing on things I am passionate about. This is purely based on my personal opinion and experiences, and may be different among people. I apologize in advance to those who were offended/affected by this article.

Every person has a passion for something. May be it reading books, dancing, or, in my case, programming. Having a passion is nice. It’s one of the things that makes you enjoy life despite its sometimes harsh realities. However, as it with everything, there is a price to pay in exchange.

One of the things that I learned from pursuing my passions is that you’ll sacrifice time and effort that could have been used for something else. You could be reading your favorite books now, but you could have used that time to socialize and keep up with your friends. One thing is for sure - pursuing our passions requires sacrificing something else.

I am passionate of photography, videography, and digital art. Because of that passion, I decided to join UP Lente, a photography and videography interest group here in the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban Campus. I do enjoy working in the group. I’ve learned new things, and gained new insights on the art of photography and videography. Nonetheless, I did pay the price of joining UP Lente.

I became distant to my fellow coursemates of the same year level. Not realizing that moment, I started to no longer know the people I see almost every day. Things changed. Something changed in my fellow coursemates. Most likely something changed in me. I have no clue on what happened. It just happened. I was left behind. People that you used to enjoy talking with personally, now resort to talking with you over Facebook. It’s faceless. The thrill is no longer. Add also to the fact that you can just be “seenzoned”. You don’t know what you did. Your efforts of reconnecting to them just seems to make matters worse. They’re now somebody that you used to know.

But I’m not blaming UP Lente for my issues. I’m putting the blame to myself.

Passion not only does have the potential to create distance between you and your friends, it also can prevent you from spending your time on events that you would enjoy. I could have joined my friends to a trip to the mall, or have a fun time in the pool. However, I sticked with my passions, and stayed at home. It sucks, I know. But there are things you just gotta sacrifice.

This, however, doesn’t mean that one should stop pursuing his/her passions. It just means that we must make up to those we haven’t spent time and enjoyed with for a long time. Make time for the people you care. Shorten the distance. Let them know that you are still there as a friend, neither as a stranger nor a statistic in the human population. It’s time to sacrifice another thing from your side for them. It may require reconnecting bonds together, but there will always be a lingering sense of hope that this conclude, at the very least, to something fruitful.