"On the Pleasure of Hating" Response

"What chance is there of the success of real passion? What certainty of its continuance?" These questions asked at the very end of this piece have provoked me to consider my own passions and their respective chance of embrace.

Oftentimes we hear that we should "follow our dreams" no matter how unrealistic or realistic they may be. There is essentially nothing too outrageous in this world and there is nothing we should feel reluctant in committing our hearts to. Is this a rational perspective? In knowing that one of our dreams or aspirations are feasibly unattainable with our given circumstances--economic status, geographic location, gender, etc.--is it worth, is it realistically rational for us to continue this endeavor to attain the unattainable?

I find myself torn in this scenario. Surely, I do believe that individuals can sometimes overcome their seemingly restrictive circumstances; however, I also believe that passion should be matched with a sense of realism. In my mind, the more realistic a passion, the more willing and excited an individual is to live out this passion since they understand practical ways in which to achieve whatever it is they are striving for. For me, my unrealistic passion of singing is more frustrating than it is liberating. I know, for certain, that I'm a terrible singer. I have lucky and unexpected moments where I'm able to carry a tune; however, 95% of the time I am stuck in my monotonous tone. I've learned to accept this and embrace this because I know that, realistically, I will not wake up tomorrow morning with a new voice that embodies the perfection of all musical pitches. Do I still wish that I could sing like Adele? Sure, but I will no longer convince myself that there is any ounce of success waiting for me once I commit my life to this career.

In this realization, I urge all to truly consider their passions and the practicality of committing one's life to these passions. Are there clear and feasible ways in which to accomplish your goals, or are you waiting for a miracle? Waiting and skeptically wishing for a miracle to occur so that the path to accomplish your goal becomes more realistic is somewhat counterproductive. I believe it is certainly important to believe in ideas and possibilities outside of the reign of our current circumstances; however, I also hold it to be beneficial for individuals to truly consider their goals and really analyze whether or not it is a fantasy or a passion. There is a particular difference between fantasy and passion; fantasy are those ideas and aspirations that are merely a fixation on the end goal rather than any contemplation of the ways in which to achieve this goal, while a passion is something that, too, fixates on the end goal but also is accompanied with practical ways and methods to go about reaching this end.

In addition, liberalism is a lot like a fantasy sometimes. People definitely enjoy and agree with its main principles: equality, tolerance, sovereignty, etc. Nonetheless, many people are not willing to do the dirty work or to take procedural steps in order to instill liberalism in an entity or society. Moreover, liberalism is fantasized as a hopeful end; however, I would find it to be quite effective if we focued on using liberalism and its qualities to assure that it is the end result rather than just assuming it will be produced.