When passion goes quiet

EVER had one of those phases where even the things you love feel heavy?

Like you’re tired, unmotivated, maybe even a little lazy, and that only makes it worse, because these are your passions, not chores.

You tell yourself you should be excited and grateful, but instead, you’re just blank.

Stuck. Low-battery.

It’s a bit like trying to read someone’s heart and coming up empty.

You look, you listen, and you care, but nothing quite makes sense.

No clear signals, no obvious answers.

And you start wondering whether the problem is you for not feeling enough, or them for not showing enough.

Maybe it’s neither.

Maybe sometimes, whether it’s passion or people, the connection just goes quiet for a while.

And that doesn’t mean it’s gone.

Think back to when you were a kid.

You were into everything. Puppet shows, games, scavenger hunts, toys, dolls – anything that sparked joy, you were all in.

Then you grew a little older and suddenly, it was all about the latest collectibles.

Legos, blind boxes, Gundams – you wanted them all.

After that, maybe it was scrapbooking, gardening, or painting.

Or sports like badminton, pickleball, or basketball.

Interests come and go. But somewhere along the way, you might notice one thing that never really leaves.

For me, that was music.

I would find myself dancing, singing, or just tapping along without even thinking about it.

When I was in the zone, motivation wasn’t something I had to force.

Life is always changing, so you learn to roll with it and try new things as they come.

That’s where life gets rich. Passion doesn’t have to be one fixed thing.

People love to say, ‘just find your passion’, like it’s hidden somewhere out there, waiting to be discovered, and once you do, everything will fall into place.

We have all heard that before, but the truth is, passions aren’t something we stumble upon – they are something we build.

We grow them, shape them, and stick with them.

Only then do we get to say we have ‘found’ one.

When I was 15, I signed up for guitar classes because I loved music.

With every lesson, I got a little better and a lot more excited.

I kept playing, and before I knew it, that interest turned into something deeper.

I even got the chance to fill in as a rhythm guitarist for my cousin’s ethnic contemporary band, back when they were still playing at a local live band venue.

Over time, though, that drive slowly faded.

I still enjoyed playing, but I no longer felt pushed to improve.

Practice became occasional, and I would only pick up my guitar when I felt like tuning it and playing for a bit.

About a year later, when that spark had mostly settled, I tried something else – dance.

It was still connected to music, just in a different way.

I wouldn’t say I was passionate at the start, but I had a strong urge to get better.

And that feeling never really went away.

That’s when I realised a new passion had grown, and this one stayed.

Finding passion is the easy part.

The real challenge is what comes after: learning how to keep going when the excitement settles, when progress feels slow, or when you’re just tired.

Passion doesn’t run on inspiration alone. It needs to be fed.

For me, one of the biggest things that helped was community.

Doing something alongside people who care about the same thing changes everything.

There is this quiet, healthy push that comes from knowing others are showing up too – not in a competitive way, but in a ‘we’re in this together’ kind of way.

On days I feel unmotivated, seeing someone else keep going nudges me forward.

On better days, I get to be that nudge for someone else.

That shared momentum makes it so much easier to stay.

Being part of a community also showed me how safe people could feel opening up when there was trust.

It’s easy to assume others are judging you, or think they are better than you, but most of the time, that isn’t true.

Everyone is dealing with their own doubts, pressures, and insecurities – you just don’t always see it.

Realising that has made me more patient, more open, and more willing to stay instead of pulling away.

And that, too, is part of sustaining passion: letting people be human, including yourself, and choosing to keep going anyway.

Earlier this month, I went to Kuching Youth Jam (KYJ)’s ‘Rhythm and Battle Vol. 1 2026: R&B Night’.

I wasn’t competing this time – I was there to support my sister and friends – but just being in a room full of people who shared the same passion reminded me why, even after years and occasional slumps, that passion was still very much alive.

Sticking together doesn’t just happen. It’s a choice you make, over and over.

Passion lasts when you let yourselves rely on each other, and when you admit you’re better together than apart.

* The writer is a psychology graduate who enjoys sharing about how the human mind views the world. For feedback, email to [email protected].