Where the Fuck Is the Passion?

Over the last year and a half, I’ve started my career in boatbuilding. I’m nowhere near finished with my apprenticeship, and I can’t believe I’m no longer in my teens, but that’s how it goes. I don’t really know where to start, but all I can tell you is that A LOT of shit has happened, both in my private life and at work.

I want to write this blog post specifically about passion. From a very young age, I’ve loved working with my hands. It didn’t matter whether I was messing around in an engine bay or scrambling around in a bilge; I loved every bit of it. So it makes sense that I didn’t go straight into pursuing an engineering degree.

But what I’ve seen over the last year has honestly baffled me to my core. It’s the people who simply turn up to work, do the bare minimum and go home, all for the money. Where the fuck is the PASSION? Where is the desire to make that piece of furniture look good, or to make that boat look clean again?

I think society as a whole has lost something along the way. And I’m not just talking about boatbuilding. You can be passionate about almost anything, even working in a supermarket. I’m talking about people who have the opportunity to study, learn a trade or build a career doing something they could genuinely be good at.

Yes, there are rough days at work. That’s part of it. But even on those days, I still enjoy what I’m doing. There’s something satisfying about going to a boat knowing you’ve done the job properly.

I love looking at my work and being able to say, “I did this with my own hands.” I enjoy the process, and I don’t particularly care if that means working overtime. Sometimes, I struggle to fall asleep knowing I could have invested a little more time into something I was working on and made it look even better.

Maybe I’m the problem. I genuinely have no clue. But you guys can let me know in the comments.

I know my generation gets called lazy, and you could blame all sorts of things for that. But I’m not going to sit here and blame everything else. All I can say is that I was raised differently. Hard work doesn’t scare me one bit.

And yes, I know some people will probably think I’m going on some kind of blue-collar rant. I’m not.

The fact is, people want the fast route. Quick money. Quick results. Everything now. And I’ll admit that I used to have the same mindset. But I quickly realised that good things take time. That quote has resonated with me ever since I first read it.

Since living alone, I’ve also realised how easy it is to fall into the trap of drinking every weekend just to fit in. Nobody wants to stand out. Nobody wants to be the odd one out. And I think that’s a huge problem in society, with social media only making things worse. We’re constantly distracted, constantly comparing ourselves to others and constantly looking for something more.

Sometimes, I genuinely sit there and think, why the fuck am I even here? Why don’t I just sail away, find an island in the middle of fucking nowhere and get away from all the filth?

Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly what I end up doing. Because sometimes, it feels like nothing is getting any better.

Life is brutal. But I suppose that’s to be expected. There’s a reason so many men take their own lives every year. Life can be lonely, difficult and exhausting, and I think we sometimes underestimate just how much people are struggling behind closed doors.

Despite all of that, I’m excited about the future.

I’m excited about the adventures, the new places and the friendships I have yet to make. Genuine friendships seem so rare these days. I’m excited about the sunrises and sunsets, the storms and the calm days. The moments that make you stop for a second, look around and realise how fucking lucky you are to be alive.

I think we all need to start appreciating the little things a bit more. Smile more often, and I don’t mean some fake smile you put on for other people. I mean a real smile. The kind that comes naturally when you’re genuinely happy to be where you are.

And if it rains? So what? It’s fucking weather.

There’s always someone out there dealing with something far worse than you or me. That doesn’t mean your problems don’t matter, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to have a bad day. But perhaps it’s worth remembering that life isn’t just about the things we don’t have, the money we haven’t made or the places we haven’t reached yet.

Sometimes, it’s about appreciating what’s already in front of us.

And maybe that’s what I’m getting at with this whole rant.

I don’t want to spend my life just turning up, doing the bare minimum, collecting a paycheque and waiting for the weekend. I want to build things I’m proud of. I want to work with people who give a shit. I want to look back at the end of a long day and know that I put everything I had into what I was doing.

Because if we’re going to spend so much of our lives working, shouldn’t we at least give a fuck about what we do?

So, where the fuck is the passion?