Weighing Passions and People in the the Search for A Future

The Arkansas Traveler - opinion,opinion/









I recently watched a movie where two people fall madly in love. I’m not going to say the name of the movie because I don’t want to be that girl who ruins the entire plot of La La Land for anyone who picks up a campus newspaper – I believe that’s up to six people now.











Anyways, these two individuals were young and they were passionately following their dreams. Ultimately, it was their relationship which led them to both recognize their true potential for success. Someone else’s eye led them to see their own true potential, but it was their relationship they ended up forsaking in order to pursue their passions.






This movie which I won’t name made me think.





I have passions and goals and big dreams. I never want to sit idle in my life or be complacent about my circumstances. I, like all other 20-somethings who are just a bit too confident in their own abilities, want to change the world.





I am in love with my passions and in love with my dreams. The work required to reach them is worth it because they light a fire in my soul. Without goals, without passions, my life would be bereft of purpose.





After mulling over my passions I decided I was not mad at Emma Stone or Ryan Gosling for choosing their passions over their love in the movie La La Land.





However, I started talking to my friend, who is both smarter and kinder than me, and he had a different outlook.





I told him the couple in the movie I saw ended up choosing their passions over their love. “That’s selfish,” he responded. He then asked me what really mattered in the grander scheme of things: love and other humans or a job title?





I know these things don’t ...


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