NPR published an uplifting story last year about a 10-year-old boy’s dream that caught my attention. The title of that piece speaks to me – “How much can a vision of your future self-motivate you to achieve?”
Chris Sitic spent part of his childhood in a Syrian orphanage, without parents, and with very limited access to the outside world. One day, he was captivated one day by someone doing something cool and magical that he had never seen before. Where was he? He was at a dance party inside an orphanage with 300 other kids! That something was music, dance, and a DJ. That moment lit a fire in him. He suddenly saw a future a person he wanted to be. “Boom. I want to be a DJ.” For the next decade, no matter where Chris found himself, whether he was homeless in Damascus or Beirut, this future version of himself was like a beacon.
Sitic told NPR, “This is like pretty much why I’m alive.”
That sort of Eureka moment happened to me as well when I was about 11 or 12 years old.
One day while watching an American TV show (with Chinese subtitles), I saw a thin but steely woman with long blonde hair going around knocking on doors, looking for people for interviews. She was persistent and earnest, asking questions about some horrible crimes that just took place. Her character, which I didn’t know much about until she identified herself as working for a newspaper. I was intrigued. What was she chasing? I was moved by her energy and emotions. I turned to my father asking (in Cantonese Chinese), “What does working for a newspaper mean? What is that in English?” He looked at me with wide and still eyes for a few seconds, then uttered, “she is a reporter.” That was it! A reporter. A journalist. That became a calling underlying my own chase and passion. What captivated me as a teenager was her drive to unravel a mystery that is at the heart of a crime. What happened here? Who did it, and why?
My young mind began following along with her pursuit, getting into the character of this blonde woman, forgetting that I was not blonde, or American or even a woman yet. But I wanted to kind of like her when I grew up.
I didn’t have a precise future vision of who I wanted to become, but television became the portal through which I could access many types of characters that impress me about the variety and complexity of life’s pursuit and passion.
Television itself became the medium and the industry that I would ultimately devote decades of my life to, as a reporter and a producer. Now, television still captivates me. So does good movies, good books, good podcasts.
What catches your attention? What stirs your imagination? What lights your fire?
Whatever it is, that is the birthplace of passion.