Passion vs Pragmatism : Which would you choose?

It was a windy, cloud-barren Tuesday evening, when I noticed across the pedestrian crossing a 12-something year-old girl in her school uniform, holding her violin case. She seemed a composed and quiet sort, utterly satiated with the violin case that she cradled like it was her most prized possession. There was something poignant about that image in front of me as the cars swished between us. In the moments it took for the green man to appear, I kept thinking about her, the uniform and the violin. I wondered if, 20 years from now, when the naivety fades and she’s asked to make choices, whether she’d still remember the violin in the same way – or she’d choose the uniform, or some other form of it, conforming to what she needs to do to survive, rather than what she wants to do to thrive. The pragmatic, versus the passionate, was vivid to me, in that image at the crossing.

The debate between taking the road of passion and pragmatism exists at all junctures of our lives. Whether it’s choosing the right major in college, the right job, the right time to find a life partner and ‘settle down’, we are constantly making choices between what we want to do, and what we should do. Our parents as our care-takers until adulthood, invest in our passions - no matter how crazy - so long as they don’t distract us from the ‘real things that matter’ like our school and career. Especially among Asian parents, being pragmatic is another form of protecting us, ensuring that we have the security we need for our future.

As we mature, and make our own decisions, surely we’d be able to achieve both passion and practical security in our lives? That doesn’t seem to be the case. Going on our nurtured mindset, most of us take the ‘safe choice’ prioritizing a stable and risk-averse livelihood and pursuing our interests on the side. That has left a majority of adults unsatiated with their career choices. A Gallup poll conducted last year indicated that 85% of people were not engaged in their work and unhappy about their jobs, highlighting that making pragmatic choices has not always led to happiness.

Money: The be all, end all.

Liza Minelli’s lyrics in Cabaret still hold true today: ‘Money makes the world go around’. The truth of the matter is, every individual is filled with unique interests, passion and potential, but the world requires them to make pragmatic decisions, in order to survive. Some of us love money, some of us hate that we need it, but all of us can agree that money is an overbearing factor of our survival, our stability and fulfillment. It is for this reason that money becomes such a pivotal driver in our choice between being pragmatic and embracing our passion.

Between a rock and a hard place

Every path is ladled with both roses and thorns. Even if we can’t have it all, choosing between fulfilling our passion and managing our practical survival both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Individuals tuned to a pragmatic mindset are likely to benefit from the stability and independence of such a lifestyle. Prioritizing a secure financial livelihood and fulfilling responsibilities, enables such thinkers to have the independence and security to invest in what they consider important. On the flip side, making money also incurs a time investment. Pursuing a pragmatic career choice full-time takes away time from doing the things that truly motivates an individual. At some stage, the broader questions of purpose and true satisfaction have to come to the fore. When that happens, our pragmatic choices start to have diminishing returns.

The question of purpose and doing what you love everyday is never really an issue for those who have the privilege of following their passion. People in creative industries for instance are blessed to be able to spend their entire waking moments in pursuit of what makes them feel purposeful and happy. In the words of artist Vijaykumar Arumugam: “Incredible possibilities become part of our lives when we stop applying logic and reasoning to everything that we do and start believing in spontaneity.” It is by such a philosophy that many aspiring and successful artists are living by, embracing their spontaneity as a means of creative expression. Things have a way of working out, according to this school of thought. Nonetheless, there comes a point when we have to ask ourselves – what if they don’t? To what extent can we leave everything to chance? Unfortunately, financially thriving in such fields becomes a question of luck, visibility, initial sunk costs that becomes a gift for very few at the top are able to achieve. For every Michael Jordan, Quentin Tarentino, Misty Copeland, and Angelina Jolie, there are scores of people who haven’t made it to the limelight.

Finding a new path forward

A majority of us have questioned the true satisfaction of our choices and our compromises. The path we take between passion and pragmatism has been determined by our financial stability, our appetite for risk, our responsibilities and our mindset. No path is right or wrong, and we might meander between the two in our lives. But is there a way we can find a new path that merges the two? Find a way that allows even our passions to become financially sustainable? We as consumers have incredible power in deeming what is valuable and what can scale. By consuming beyond the popular and mainstream, we should be able to find new ways to support, monetise and consume from all avenues of talent and passion. It is only if we create a different path through our consumption, that in the distant future, the 12-year old violinist standing across the pedestrian won’t need to choose between following her passion and being practical, but thriving with both by her side.

How have you chosen your path between passion and pragmatism? What would you like to see changed?