Passion is incredibly beautiful. The wide, toothy smiles paired with the intense pride radiating off a person as they explain their latest discovery, rehearse their latest performance, or create their greatest piece is an emotional experience that cannot be recreated. Though passion is not something tangible that you can touch, feel, listen to, or taste, it’s an art form. Ridiculously magnificent at that. Passion requires an intense ambition and will to hear the chatter around you about how you need a job that will make you rich, calling what you love useless, telling you that you need to be realistic with your dreams, and people trying to dictate the way you go about yourself, and ignoring it all completely because that isn’t what you want to do. It’s a power that not everybody has, and it’s such a refreshing and wonderful thing to witness in others. It’s art that you can’t replicate.
Alysa Liu and Christina Koch. An Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater and a history-making astronaut on Artemis II. Two opposite ends of the spectrum. One is an art form that many tend to overlook because art is often not given the value it's supposed to, even if it is at an Olympic level. The other is a highly looked-upon job that just about everybody will find incredibly impressive. Even though they’re two totally different jobs, the one main thing that’s present in both is the intense passion it requires to follow through.
Christina Koch has been the main woman on my mind for the past week or two. I’m a huge space lover, I love all things space and astronomy and planets and stars, despite my dislike for science as a whole, so Artemis II has been my entire life for a bit now. When I first learned that there was a woman on Artemis II, I genuinely cried. It felt like such a huge moment not only for her, or for me, but for every single woman and the entirety of mankind. Watching the crew bond and talk about their experiences with the mission has been incredible, but Christina Koch, other than being the only woman on board, particularly stood out to me due to an answer she gave at a recent interview with the Artemis II crew. She always knew she wanted to be an astronaut, and her entire life was spent with people telling her that she needed to follow a very specific pathway to get where she is now. Instead of conforming and listening to them, she decided that she’ll get there her own way, and now she’s broken records and made history. What was once nothing but a childhood dream turned into a big step for humankind. What was just a simple passion became a huge inspiration. Every woman involved in Artemis II has been a huge inspiration, in fact, as we go through a dark time of intense bigotry and sexism. All because of a dream that carried into adulthood.
The topic of Alysa Liu is one that genuinely brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. Although Alysa Liu was there to compete, her eyes weren’t set on winning a medal, but rather to show the world her art. She explained it beautifully in an interview shortly after the Olympics. After quitting for years because she lost the motivation due to not having control over her own art and burnout, she decided to come back and do what she wanted to do, which was just to perform. This was the overall theme of the figure skating portion of the 2026 Winter Olympics ,this year I noticed, with other figure skaters such as Ilia Malinin following that same value when performing this year. Breaking out of the bounds of conformity and competitiveness and replacing it with ambition, art, and love for the game is so heartwarming. It’s so much happier, so much more freeing, it’s just so much more.
Passion is such a beautiful art form, but it’s one that has been consistently overlooked by the intense grasp of capitalism and fast-paced hustle culture. The need for money has overtaken people’s desire to chase their dreams, no matter how intensely they want to achieve them. The economic crisis and culture of our current society have crushed the joy and whimsy of having a career you truly enjoy without the worry of money. That brings the shame and the guilt of even the thought that you can become successful from what you love to do, typically said with the presumption that everyone’s idea of success is achieving the “American Dream”. This is especially prevalent if your dreams are too far-fetched because it’s too hard, or because it’s unlikely, or because of the demographic you’re from. Black people and women are told to “be realistic” with their future careers because of how white, male-dominated the majority of career fields are, or if it isn’t, then it’s usually a field that is seen to be invaluable or doesn’t make a lot of money. Everybody around the world is trying to dictate what you should do with your life.
I’m no stranger to the fear of following my dreams. A black queer painter and writer with the dream to one day show my art on a wide scale, either through a short film, an exhibition, a book, contributions to a wildly successful show, or anything art-related. It’s a ridiculous concept to many. Art will never get you anywhere; you’ll be starving and broke, and you’ll never become popular enough to make ends meet. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of truth to it, and that’s an incredibly hard pill to swallow. Especially coming from a family that doesn't make a whole lot, it was drilled into me from my first elementary school career day that I need to be the child who makes the money and becomes successful. To do that, art was pretty much entirely out of the question. I was never forced to do anything, but the long debates, the sly comments, the lectures, the attempts to change your mind, they weigh on a person. I eventually settled for Prelaw, something I thought I could be at least somewhat okay with, and might not completely hate, and still be able to get money. But now, as I age closer and closer to graduation and starting my adult life, the more unsure I become. I don’t want to do prelaw, but it’s the only way I’ll get praise and recognition, so it’s okay…right? I despise living that way.
I want to dedicate this to the people who aren’t afraid to follow their passions. You’re everything that you want to be, that you can be, and more. Artistry and talent and intelligence will go a long way, but your unwavering ambition will take you the farthest. Even if you aren’t where you want to be yet, consider yourself one of the bravest people around you. I, too, hope I’ll become like you one day.
