When I was about 12 I decided that being a psychologist was my true sense of vocation. It sounds wrong but I was very fascinated by the typography of personalities, as well as what makes people loveable and loathe-able. Working in a psychiatric hospital as a young intern, the idea that you can’t make everyone happy started rooting in me… as devastating as it may seem, I started gradually realizing that there are people who would never be happy. If you want to be sane, you better leave them alone.
This realization doesn’t come conscious though, probably until when I was about 19, things started to change. As lame as it sounds, it was the internet that changed me… the first thing I remember that truly shocks my world (sorry, Yahoo!), it’s google search – imagine all information (well I know it’s not all information) around the world at your finger tip! Then I became more aware of all the interesting cultural movements, such as Open Source *slash* open initiatives from Firefox to Wikipedia, where people seem to enjoy the luxury of being super altruistic, or egoistic, and present themselves in a way that *they* want.
Apart from the Wikipedian vision that drives ‘the sum of all human knowledge’ to even the most under-privileged population, to less well-know grass root movement as little as bringing one extra kilo of goodies to poor kids in China, the internet never ceases to amaze me.
Starting my career as a community manager in Yahoo! Europe seems to be the best place I can be. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, and there are hurdles for me (and fella geeks), such as occasional needs to push through layers of ‘corporate membranes’ to get things done, but somehow by remembering that it’s passion that matters, everything seems to be fine. After all, job is just what we do to exist, but passion is what we believe in to live. As my cool colleague, Farhan, told his story – there is no excuse for lack of passion…
What is your passion?
The geek in us…
Emuishere Peliculas’s photo on Flickr
Avar Pentel | 05-Feb-08 at 7:18 pm | Permalink
Wēi!
Hi Cathy!
I found You in Orkut. Your Writings are very thought provoking and You have also excellent writing skills.
Lack of passion – firstly it makes people unhappy forcing them doing unpleasant things. On other hand lack of passion has more general impact too. For example, when we do something with passion, we can do it for free or not thinking about pay. And contrary – we expect a good pay for doing something displeasing. Therefore doing something without passion accelerates overall inflation.
I remember my first years when I was discovering programming, 72 hours without sleeping and so engaged in action, that I lost the sense of time and space and experienced a loss of the feeling of self-consciousness.
What the great perspectives for employers:)
cathyma | 06-Feb-08 at 7:28 pm | Permalink
Orkut! I almost forgot I had an account there it’s been forever :) Thanks Avar – yeah probably the last time I spent hours on recrafting a CSS template… I was really driven.
Sometimes I see people going to work 9-5 and put on their automatic gear, and become ‘themselves’ after work – it’s just sad when we spent so much time at work…
Take care!
wendy | 11-Feb-08 at 1:57 pm | Permalink
Heya ma bo,
It’s great to read your thoughts and you being passionate with what you do. I am quiet impress with your journey, to be honest!
Guess it’s always pleasing to work with those who are just as passionate. Instead of trying to “survive” within a corporate, or being alienated because you are too passionate, or simply, being told off coz you try too hard.
passion – can also be an encouragement and remind you to take that risk and find a place/job where one could truly engage.
how i found you.. Strangely,a girl tagged me on flickr in a primary 1 photo. very sweet. And the idea of looking for my childhood friends crossed my mind. Funny enough, your name was the first one that pops into my head. thx to google..
hope all is well!
wendy used to sit in front of you in F2.
cathyma | 11-Feb-08 at 6:14 pm | Permalink
OH my GOD WENDY!!! Soooooo sweet to hear from you..
okay lemme email you. But you gotta check out an English film, hot fuzz – it’s a super hilarious take on passion – and over passion…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i7J_vYN5ZkY