Chasing a Dream
This morning I went to get grilled pork at the general store at the end of my street. While waiting for my pork to be cooked, I had the chance to chat with the man grilling it. I asked him, “How did you end up selling grilled pork?”
He told me that when he was a boy, his mother had a big charcoal grill at home because she loved eating barbequed pork and beef. But whenever his mother was grilling, he wouldn’t go out to help because he didn’t like the smell of charcoal smoke. One day she made him come down and help her cook. That was the first time he ever added raw pork to the grill on his own. He sat there grilling it, all by himself. And as he grilled, he realized... he loved the sizzling sound of the meat landing on the grill.
From then on, whenever his mother sat outside grilling pork, he would always go out and help her. But when his mother passed away, he stopped grilling. Ten years went by. He graduated from school and tried his hand at many different occupations. Stitching shoes, selling clothes, collecting bus fares, valeting cars, he did it all. Eventually, he became a clerical worker. He told me that, although he didn’t like this career, he did it for many years because it paid well and it gave him stability.
Until one day, when he went out to eat at a grill. He told me he usually only eats meat that’s already cooked, but this restaurant was a bit different. It had an oven out in the middle of the restaurant, and you had to pick your own raw meat and grill it yourself.
And that was the first time in over ten years that he cooked grilled pork…
And that was the first time in over ten years that he cooked grilled pork…
The man told me that when he first heard the sizzle, all of the feelings he had as a child returned. His fixation on the sound and smell of grilling pork came right back to him. After that day, he would often invite his friends to go back to eat at that restaurant. Some days, when his friends couldn’t go with him, and he would go alone. He grilled pork, plate after plate, absorbing the sizzle as the pork hit the grill. He re-discovered himself and started a grilled pork stand, which he’s been doing for 12 years now.
I asked him if today he still loves the sound of the sizzle. He softly nodded and asked me,
That’s a good question…
And as for you, what do you love to do?
That’s a good question…
This question reminded me of you guys. Many people have asked me about finding their own passion and inspiration for living a full life. To be honest, when asked, I never knew how to answer. But you know what? After listening to the man at the grill tell me his story today, I realized...
...the answer is probably hidden in our memories.
...the answer is probably hidden in our memories.
Flash back to 18 years ago. I was in the 5th grade when I started creating comics in my notebook, making my classmates into cartoon characters. I had written 10 stories by the time I reached grade 7. Then I started writing articles for submission to writing contests. I also wrote fiction for websites here and there. I knew I loved writing and writing made me happy. But once I got to high school, I abandoned it all to focus on preparing for college applications. I graduated with a degree in marketing, became a graphic designer, and left writing behind until I was 25 years old.
Then three years ago, when Bangkok was flooded, I wrote to relieve my stress and posted it as a diary on Facebook. And it was just like the grill man’s story. Writing came right back into my life. At that point, I felt so much better, like I was complete again.
I wrote this to tell you all that whenever you feel like searching for your passion, you should probably look into your past. What is it that you would never grow tired of, the thing that you spent the most time on without a shred of reluctance? That’s the thing you should focus on. It probably won’t become your career right away. But if it makes you happy, you’ll do it well. Someday someone will notice, and it might actually turn into a career for you in the end.
On the 29th of October 2011, which is the day I opened the
And as for you, do you know yet what you should be?
Love
Cha, Tootsie's Diary
Tootsie's DiaryFacebook page, I checked TimeHop and saw that 3 years prior I had updated my status to tell myself:
I know myself. I should be a writer.
And as for you, do you know yet what you should be?
Love
Cha, Tootsie's Diary