Meant to Live

I think having a passion is vital to surviving this life.

I think passion is something you do for you and no one else; something you put your soul into. It's something you love doing, something that gives you a reason to wake up in the morning and something that, while you are doing it, makes you forget about the rest of the world.

Inocente Izucar, 21, is proof that passion can directly change your life. Inocente was homeless for more than nine years, but she didn't give up her passion of art. And because of her art, she was selected as the subject for an Academy Award-winning documentary named after her.

"I think art makes me a stronger and better person because it's a way that I express my feelings. I'm not a big talker on how I feel. But ... I can definitely describe all my feelings to you on a canvas," she said in an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts.

"So it's made me stronger in the sense that I've become more confident. And art just kind of kept me away from all the bad things I could have been doing. I felt like it saved my life."

Photo from Jenn Neitzel's Instagram

I think many people, as they get older, give up on these passions. Maybe they gave up after someone made them feel like their passion was "stupid" or "unrealistic." Or maybe life got in the way — the job, the bills, the housework, the kids, etc. — and makes them forget about their passion.

Blogger Jen Neitzel says that it's essential to your happiness to make time for your passions — whether it's writing (like it is for me), art (like it is for Inocente), music, photography, cooking, inventing, playing sports, hiking, acting, or anything else you love to do.

Jen wrote, "It’s always practical to nurture and develop your passion, paid or unpaid, because it’s tapping into your authentic self and growing that part of you. ... If you become an expert from following your passion, the world opens up for you with people and new opportunities."