Pursuit of oneself

In the 21st century, with the evolution of time, we have also created competition. Not just any, but a bitter comparison all about who’s better than whom. Health, wealth everything is compared on the grounds of social standing. In the pursuit of winning this competition, we have come so far from our true selves and are left far behind and we are no more aware of who we are and what is our actual purpose. The majority of us no more pursue what we like anymore because we are busy with some competition with one another.
The sense of this competitiveness can range from being the mightiest one to being the wealthiest in society. But are we all doing what we enjoy? A quick 10 min of surveying around will make you realize that the people around barely enjoy what they do and to our surprise, half of them would still say a “yes” but what if they are doing it all for the money, for the family or just some other motivation? what if the word “yes” actually meant “no”? This competitive world has brought us to a stage where we take up a well-paying job over passion. A good number of the students just might not even be able to justify why they chose a particular degree and are just pursuing it because that’s what they heard from their peers, or that’s what a relative suggested, or are just following the herd believing that it will lead them towards more lucrative job opportunities. But why don’t they pay much heed to their passion anymore?
I was around twelve when I started getting intrigued by fashion and modeling, and that’s when I decided to be a fashion designer or a stylist. Back in the day, I would spend hours surfing the internet reading facts, and journals or just admiring how beautiful the threads, and clothes are. I would often surround myself with fabric to feel good and give myself a daily dose of my happy well-being and a sense of belongingness. Yet here I am today, pursuing a business degree, when I think about my dream of being a Designer, I just call myself stupid and immature but the question stays within me, what if I were held to my passion? maybe I would have been a designer and been just as happy if not more, but I ended up joining the competition against one of my cousins who recently graduated from a great university with a hefty package.
We often trash our dreams in the pursuit of proving our worthiness, and we even might achieve something extraordinary and prove our mettle to everyone but “OURSELVES”, We cannot blame anyone since it’s the kind of society we’ve cultivated for ourselves that judges one based on their money, recognition, and how much they’re respected, but this is often also where we turn our backs on our dreams and try living a life worthy in the eyes of everyone, facing this challenging world, and fighting for our social standings.
Most of us turned down our dreams and took up responsibilities, sometimes due to lack of facilities or just to prove our worthiness to our parents and peers, but what I want to tell everyone is that its never too late to start, pursue our passion, go for a football match after office, sing a song or just dance on your favorite beat after work. We all may not be able to live the life we imagine or dream of but maybe we can still live at least a part of it, and I am certain that even that seemingly insignificant portion would contribute to the kind of happiness we never found, maybe a kind of ode to your dream, A BREAK FROM THIS CHALLENGE AND IT’S AUDIENCES. I make no claims of being an expert on this but I know for a fact that we all do things we don’t exactly like but since we often would some sort of responsibility or a reason, we do it anyway. Our purposes can’t be abandoned for seemingly reasonable justifications. But how about besides your purpose you do a portion of your passion too? For instance, I never miss a chance to design a dress for myself, numerous ramp walks I have had touched my soul from within and made me feel better that way I fulfill my purpose and also pursue my passion while keeping to my responsibilities. Isn’t this a win-win situation?

 2018 Mumbai                                  2022 Jaipur

Tanisha Daga