The Importance of Passion Projects

i keep a running record of ideas on my phone ranging from potential blog post topics to hypothetical apps to silly illustrations. these are the projects that if i had all the time in the world, i would happily create and develop.

in other words, it’s a list of my passion projects.

going to museums, browsing the Internet, paying active attention to your surroundings when you’re walking around — all of these things can lead to moments of inspiration. i can’t recall the number of times i’ve seen a beautiful bus advertisement with great hierarchy or well hand-lettered graffiti that led me to explore similar concepts in my own designs.

he immediately dismissed everyone’s doubts and insecurities; EVERYONE is creative, he asserted. you are showing initiative by starting a passion project; you are starting something as opposed to waiting for the opportunity to come to you.

if you’re not persuaded, here are some other benefits that passion projects can incite in your life:

when Steve Jobs dropped out of Stanford University, he started to audit fascinating courses rather than required ones. he took a calligraphy class where he learned about great typography, a skill that stayed latent until 10 years later when he was designing the first Macintosh. it was due to this attention to type that distinguished the computer successfully from its competitors.

passion projects are the ones that you’re excited to work on. they don’t feel like work because you’re doing it for free, for heck’s sake.

you’re immune to failure because if even if you fuck up, it’s not like you lose a job or your livelihood. while you will have lost some time, no time dedicated to passion should be considered truly lost. Ella Fitzgerald said it best:

passion projects don’t need to have a larger purpose. their purpose is to put a smile on your face and hopefully someone else’s too.

so think about it: what inspires you? what gets you excited? what is an idea that you’ve had but haven’t delved deep enough to explore it?

you might be surprised where it leads.

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