SOUL
FIND YOUR PASSION
Passion is something you uncover
I recently read about an 84‑year‑old woman who picked up the violin again after giving it up at 13. She had been told not to play “pop music,” so she abandoned the instrument she loved. Seventy years later, she finally returned to it — and at 92, she was over the moon to be playing again.
So many people bury their passions without meaning to. Life gets busy. Responsibilities take over. We forget what once lit us up.
This space is here to help you reconnect with a lost passion — or discover a new one.
Passion is personal and evolving. It can be intellectual, physical, rediscovered later in life, can surprise you.
Passion doesn’t always look like a career
Some of the most fulfilled people I’ve met never planned their path. An animator who became a software developer. A biologist who became an analytics director. A singer who became a dance teacher. A hobbyist who became an entrepreneur.
There’s one thing they all had in common: They kept practising the thing that made them curious.
Passion rarely arrives fully formed. It grows through repetition, exploration, and small steps.
My shy passion
I was 27 when I first discovered programming. The idea that you could tell a computer to automate tasks fascinated me. I practised in small bursts — a website here, another one there, then a mobile app. Eventually, I applied for a job that involved programming, even without having studied Computer Science, just courses here and there through Udemy.com.
I genuinely loved building things. That passion showed in my attitude, and that’s what got me hired.
Passion doesn’t need permission. It needs curiosity and consistency.
I had no idea that this shy little passion would one day throw me into a 48‑hour game‑building marathon that became one of my happiest memories. The story waits below.
💃 Movement as Passion
I found another passion at 36.
I tried so many things — yoga, Pilates, tango, salsa, bachata — but it was Zumba that made me happiest. The music, the energy, the freedom to dance badly without judgment. It wasn’t a competition. It was joy.
Ten years later, I can say it was one of the best decisions of my life. After a long break, I eventually returned and found the perfect class. Sometimes passion waits patiently for us to come back.
The unexpected joy of Tango.
Tango taught me something different: elegance, connection, and confidence. I never imagined myself dancing in heels or moving with such presence, but it became one of the most transformative experiences of my life.
Why movement matters.
Dance has a unique way of waking up the body and the spirit. It boosts confidence, lifts your mood, and reconnects you with joy. You don’t need a partner or experience — just curiosity and the willingness to move. For some people, dance becomes a passion; for others, it’s simply a reminder that movement can be healing, expressive, and fun.
🔥 What passion really is
Passion makes you feel alive. It’s not always obvious. It’s not always what you expect.
It’s the thing that makes you lose track of time. The thing you return to, even after years away. The thing that makes you feel more like yourself.
You don’t need to find it overnight. You just need to stay open, curious, and willing to try.
Running With the Giants: The Happiest Weekend of My Life
I’ve never felt more alive than during the weekend I participated in the Global Game Jam at the Unity offices in Brighton — a 48‑hour challenge to build a game from scratch.
Someone once said:
“If you wake up thinking about writing, think about writing at work, and go to bed thinking about writing — you’re a writer, even if your job title doesn’t say so.”
That idea stayed with me. I’ve wanted to be a Software Developer since I was 27, even if I never had the official job title.
I met a software developer at my Zumba class over a year ago. He worked with Unity — the platform used to build video games and apps. Between songs we chatted about programming, and he knew I’d already published my own app. Later, he invited me to join the Global Game Jam.
Although I’m not fluent in the programming language C#, I joined his team.
The theme was masking — emotions, identities, etc. After brainstorming, we settled on “masking tape,” a rolling, playful concept (yes, inspired by I Am Bread).
Unity’s offices closed for the day (apparently developers who haven’t slept for 24 hours are a health hazard).
Hands on
My first task was to create a player‑selection panel — basically a screen where you choose your character, with an image, title, and description that updates when you click around.
He guided me through it, and then gave me a much more ambitious challenge:
“Maybe you can make it work with networked multiplayer.”
In other words: make the game work online so multiple people can play together.
So I dove into YouTube tutorials… only to realise half the tools were missing. It was already a tough start to the year for personal reasons, and I was exhausted, trying to translate jargon‑heavy English instructions. Somehow I managed to set up the basics of multiplayer, though it still needed tweaking.
I built a few more panels, improved them, we cut features, and still delivered a multiplayer game.
Seeing the Unity offices was thrilling too. They were so employee‑oriented: a full breakfast selection, daily cooked breakfasts, their own bar, pool table, noodles, soft drinks… the kind of place where creativity feels built into the architecture.
At work I use Excel, Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI which are baby tools. At home, just like these developers we use the big guns: Unity as the game engine, Rider as the code editor, GitHub for version control, itch.io to publish games, Discord to communicate.
It was an honour to “run with the giants,” and I’m proud that I kept up — with the platforms, the workflow, and even having a laptop that could handle the heavy tools.
Passion isn’t a title, a degree, or a job description — it’s the feeling of being fully alive. It’s the spark that wakes you up, the curiosity that pulls you forward, the quiet voice that says this is who I am. Running with the giants didn’t make me feel small; it made me realise I belonged in the room. Passion doesn’t ask whether you’re ready. It simply asks you to show up — and when you do, even for 48 hours, it can change the way you see yourself forever.