Where should you go to uncover your passion?
Nadine Touzet
Motivation, Mindset and Wellness
Bonjour!
I am a French translator; I am also a conference interpreter. For those who may not be familiar with the terminology, I translate for people, sometimes simultaneously from a little box that we call a booth.
About ten years ago, going through a life-changing crisis, I decided that my work wasn’t fulfilling me anymore, and I joined a class. The coach’s first question was: ‘Can you share some reasons why you want to change jobs?’
At which point a puzzled Me heard a little voice utter: ‘I don’t know… I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do.’ I had finally uncovered my passion that had been there all along, for many years!
So if it’s that hard to see, where could your passion be hiding?
Just think…
photo credit: Ouroborus_
1. Dig into those childhood memories.
My parents must have been nomads in a previous life. Back in the late 50’s, every year we drove to the remotest parts of Europe. But they were only interested in looking at people and landscapes, with a fuming 6-, 7-, 8-year-old child on the back seat, who so wanted to play with those little girls! So what if they spoke another language…? However, just by having a curious mind and making up for the lost fun by deciphering labels, road signs, etc., spending lots of money on pocket dictionaries in languages I would never learn (did I ever learn Finnish, in the end?), I was growing an interest for languages and honing my future translation skills.
2. Did you exhibit seemingly annoying traits when you were young?
Throughout my school years, I developed without even trying an amazing ability to listen in class, while endlessly, and I do mean endlessly, chatting to my friend. A very annoyed teacher would lash on my friend, and I would counter her attack by simply whispering the answer so that she wouldn’t get punished. What I didn’t know then, was that the ability to listen AND talk simultaneously is one of the basic skills for simultaneous interpreting.
3. Welcome unexpected opportunities to grow.
I enrolled to study English at my local French university, only to find that my second foreign language, Russian, could not be taken as a minor. The only language on offer was Italian, which I didn’t know, apart from some basic knowledge acquired thanks to our travels and those little pocket dictionaries :), so without a second’s hesitation I set about teaching myself Italian. Only on very rare occasions have I used Italian professionally, but accepting that unexpected turn of events allowed me to complete my English degree.
4. Did you get thrown off-course?
At 15, I decided to become an interpreter. I pored over brochures, virtually learning by heart every detail about my dream profession. Except that they painted interpreting as the preserve of a few high-fliers, and highly-connected people. I was neither. End of dream, I prepared myself for the down-to-earth life of an English teacher at a secondary school. To get a taste, I applied to work as a French Language Assistant near London (England). One year was enough to convince me to go back to my dream. I was on my way, at last.
This describes the course of a young person. Imagine what you can uncover by looking into your past and present joys, dreams, frustrations, role models, with a more experienced eye? Are there unusual clues that got you to uncover your passion, or might help you on that path?
Nadine Touzet @ May 26, 2008
Nadine Touzet
Nadine, beautifully put and I can’t agree with you more on your suggestions on how to find your passions.
[...] The post, ‘Where should you go to uncover your passion?’, was published last week. The link is here. [...]
Nadine, thank you so much for exploring this and sharing your own journey to uncover your passion. As you so beautifully articulated, our passion is always there even if it takes us time to pay attention to it.
Thank you both for your kind words. I don’t always realize how lucky I’ve been. But when I have those moments, I feel I want to help others as best as I can.