Passion or Stability?
I’m a singer-songwriter.
And when I was younger, I really thought music was going to be my life.
Not just something I loved doing.
My career.
I thought I was going to make it.
Then I moved from Israel to the United States.
And that changed a lot.
It wasn't that I suddenly changed my mind about music. I didn't.
But I was in a different country. Different culture. Different music scene. Different connections. Even the way people communicate and build careers was different.
It was hard.
Still, I held on to the dream.
For a long time actually.
And while I was pursuing music, I taught.
Teaching was how I made money.
But in my head, I didn't really see it as my main career. It was almost like teaching was funding the thing I was really supposed to be doing.
Music.
Except I kept teaching.
And teaching.
And teaching.
Years went by.
I became better at it. I built experience. People knew me as a teacher. I created things around teaching.
And eventually I had to look at my own life and realize something that was actually a little difficult for me to accept.
Teaching wasn't funding my career anymore.
Teaching was my career.
That doesn't mean music disappeared.
I'm still a singer-songwriter.
I still love it.
It's still part of me.
But the life I actually built looked different from the life I had pictured when I was younger.
And maybe that's why I have mixed feelings when I hear people tell young adults:
“Just follow your passion.”
I mean... yes.
I want my daughters to find things they love.
I don't want them spending their lives doing something they hate just because it pays well.
But I also want them to be independent.
I want them to be able to pay their bills.
Have choices.
Travel if they want to.
Have their own place.
Save money.
Build whatever kind of life they decide they want.
And all of that costs money.
That's the part of “follow your passion” that I think sometimes gets left out.
On the other hand, telling someone to forget what they love and just pick whatever makes the most money doesn't sit right with me either.
So...
Passion or stability?
I don't know if there's one answer.
Maybe it depends on the person.
Maybe it depends on what you're willing to sacrifice.
Maybe something you love stays a passion instead of becoming your income.
Maybe you build it on the side for years.
Maybe it eventually becomes your career.
Or maybe, like me, something you originally thought was your “other job” ends up becoming a much bigger part of your life than you expected.
I don't know.
But I do think young people deserve a more real conversation than simply:
“Follow your passion.”
Because eventually passion has to meet real life.
And figuring out where those two meet?
I'm still thinking about that one too.
What do you think?
