Dean Powery on the Seriousness of Pursuing Your Passion
Many college students are asked a version of the question, “What is your passion?” In an essay in the (Duke) Chronicle, Chapel Dean Luke Powery explores the seriousness of this query.
“The Latin etymological roots of the word ‘passion’ mean ‘to suffer,’” Dean Powery writes. “When someone asks, ‘What is your passion?’, they’re asking, ‘For what are you willing to suffer?’”
“When you give of your total self in pursuit of a passion recognize that you will suffer for it at times due to hard work or late nights or sacrifices made or an intense focus,” he says. “It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it because you won’t be living someone else’s life; instead, you will be living the life that’s been dying to live in and through you."
“Pursue a passion and paradoxically, you’ll live.”