I know you are used to hearing me talk about how to make your home or your gatherings beautiful, but recently that voice in my head {you know you have one too!} has been telling me to expand my view. To see beyond our homes, tablescapes and that fabulous dream bedroom into new areas of life. To start to see that every area of our lives can and should also feel beautiful.
So along with the voice in my head I started really listening to the voices out side as well. And what I have been hearing during many of my interactions with friends, contacts and other women, whether in real life, in Facebook groups or connecting over coffee with a female professional friend, there is one term that continues to gain time in our conversations.
It’s not necessarily a taboo topic but usually the surrounding room is given a check to see if anyone is listening before the conversation goes any further. Just a quick look over the shoulder, in case anyone from “the office” happens to be close enough to hear what comes next.
I am talking about the topic of Passion Projects, and how can we not just talk about it but, make it a reality?
In many circles the term Passion Project has increased in frequency from occasionally, to weekly, to most recently woven into the daily sentences of inspired women, not just in my circles but, everywhere.
Have you recently said, or thought one of the below statements….
“If only I had more time, I would absolutely be working on … _____________________”
“If I didn’t need to make so much to support my family I would love to … _________________ instead.”
“When I retire I am going to start a … ____________________”
“I wish I could dedicate more time to creating … _____________________”
You get my point.
What Is a Passion Project?
According to Amy Shah M.D. on Mind Body Green “A passion project is something …
that gives you
satisfaction,
happiness
and puts you into a
state of flow…
Its your tiny (or huge) contribution to the world.”
To put it in slightly less woo woo wording, Passion Projects are at their core our creative side projects. Inspired by your deeper meaning, your mission, your desire for a better way and ideally, they have a real world result.
Notice I did not say real world end-result, conclusion or ending.
Your Passion Project may be writing a book, mentoring other women just starting out in business, running an organic flower farm, encouraging moms to put down their phones during family time, or committing to 30 days of writing thank you notes to active military.
They may or may not have a hard stop conclusion but every project should have some result, goal or outcome in mind to keep you driving towards it.
Once you have found your Passion Project, or should I say – once your Passion Project has found you – the next step is getting started on bringing it to life.
When Is the Right Time to Start a Passion Project?
More than just talking about starting a project, many women are starting to pull their passions projects from words in their journals to create real world books, starting to pull like-minded people together to create communities and seek funding, permitting and resources to build businesses.
There are no rules when it comes to when it’s the right time to start your Passion Project. There is no committee or board of directors you need to prove your projects worth to before getting started, unless that’s part of your plan of course. What you will need to bring your passion project to reality is a belief in yourself and strong commitment to seeing it through.
But how do you decide if your passion project can, or should, become more than a dream?
Ultimately it is up to you to decide when it is the right time to start your Passion Project. It may come when you just can’t take the status quo any longer, it may come when your company decides to restructure resulting in layoffs, or it may come when you least expect it laying in bed at night or in the shower. Believe me you will know when the time is right, when you just can’t hold it back any longer. That is when it is time to start your Passion Project.
Is it your time yet?
Leave a comment below and let me know how long you have been dreaming up your passion project and what the next step is to get started.
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I have a passion project I cannot wait to share! Great article Krayl.
I can’t wait to hear more about it Lisa!!! You’ve got this!!
My passion project is writing textbooks for students and mentoring fellow writers in creating useful learning materials that can help change in a young individual. I never planned about this but it was an opportunity that came to me almost 5 years ago. And I am very thankful that I was able to share my knowledge in Science to a lot of young students.
That is really a great passion! Keep up the great work Jhoei.
I going to make a passion project about travel! its going to be good
It’s going to be great! Keep me posted Tyjae!