4. Growing Passion

Growing Passion

It is already passing midday as the sun positions itself towards the west. Hyunhwa decides to head back to the temple through the same path we took earlier, so I followed her.

As we walked down, I spotted a small unmarked trail branching away from our path. It was not noticeable on the way up but it was slightly obvious on the way down, naturally hidden from sight, where anyone, who is not consciously spending their time being in the moment, would have easily missed. The astonishing thing about the path itself was the little traces of gold dust

covering it, they sparkle at the mercy of one’s feet whenever the light graces its spell on it.

“Hyunhwa, hold up, do you know where this leads to?”

Hyunhwa turned back and looked at the trail. She paused for a while before answering. Her eyes now focusing more intensely on it, with her hands now shoved deep into her pockets.

“It is nothing Dan, let’s go back to the temple.” “Hold on, I have to at least see where this place leads too. It has gold dust coming from the ground. Don’t worry, you can either head down first and we meet later, or you can decide to follow me.”

Hyunhwa seems to want to stop me from exploring the path, without making it too obvious that she does not want to go in. I calmly assured her again that it will be alright, as I had to go in to see where it leads to.

The path became smaller and smaller with no trace of being disturbed by anyone before me. As the path curved to the left, colours started to appear. The sunlight peered through the dense forest to reveal red, yellow, blue, and violet hues. My pace started to hasten with the annoyance that I could not make out the end of the path. Getting closer and closer till I finally was

there seeing what was before me, I was left unspoken with only one thought on mind, “Oh my god, I have to take a selfie.”

My heart is fluttering with happiness now when all of a sudden Hyunhwa sneaked up from behind once again.

“Oh my god, Hyunhwa, you got to stop sneaking up like that on me. I am going to get a heart attack.”

“Sorry Dan.” Hyunhwa smiled with an amused look on her face.

“It is okay. Look at this place. It is so beautiful. Why did the monk not tell us about this place?"

“He does not know.”

“What do you mean he does not know? Did you know about this?" "This is my small secret garden that I come back to. Every flower you see represents a small part of my life. Do you like it?" "Like it? I am lost for words." "No one knows and I am surprised that your eyes caught sight of the path earlier.”

“Why didn't you tell me about this garden?”

“I did call this place my secret garden. It is supposed to be a secret, no?” Hyunhwa replied with a smile.

“Come, let me show you around. The garden is divided into three sections. This first section is filled with black and red

roses. They represent my dark past. I have placed bricks around this part of the garden to separatethem from the other parts.”

“That part of your life must have been hard for you. I am glad you are over it."

“Let's move on. Now here is my calm garden with a cherry blossom tree in the middle.”

“Beautiful,” as I noticed the pinkness of it.

“Oh good, it has started to bloom. I really love this part of the garden. It is my little corner to remind me of my new life and my two core purpose. I sometimes come here to spend my time to think things through.”

“I can’t help but notice the pink cherry blossoms, they are so beautiful. What about the rock beneath the cherry blossom tree itself. What does that represent?”

“It was on this very rock that I found my passion in life. I was thinking deeply about what I wanted in my life and what is the meaning of passion, and how it is very different from a hobby. It took me a while, and with enough guidance from the monk, I managed to find my own answer to my question.”

“Okay, I like cycling once a week and I do think about it once in a while. Is that considered a passion or a hobby?"

“What do you think?" "Well, I guess passion is something you think about all the time, and a hobby is something done for leisure?"

"Good. Here is what I want to teach you. If you look up the word ‘passion’ on the Internet, you will find two related words, suffering and devotion. Think about ‘suffering’, the word passion is a Latin word used in the 12th century to describe the suffering of Christ on the cross; and the suffering was a sacrifice to create value for the world, what do you think that value is?”

“I am not a religious person but I believe it was to free us from our sins?”

“Yes. His suffering was a sacrifice to create value for all of us, to free us from sins. ”

“Wait, are you trying to link passion with the two core purpose shared by the monk earlier?” “Now, let’s have a look at the second word that relates to passion." Hyunhwa went on with a slight smile now appearing. "Devotion?" "Devotion is act of love, understanding and empathy for another human. We are devoted to someone because of the strong relationship that we have together. A meaningful relationship, does that sound familiar, no?”

“Building meaningful relationships? Is that why some people are so passionate about something… because it creates value and builds meaningful relationships?”

“Yes. Passion is sacrificial and may not necessarily be fun to do all the time. We are passionate about something because we know, deep down, that we are creating value for others and

building meaningful relationships with them. So coming back to your cycling once a week, it is not passion, it is a hobby. What is hobby? Hobbies are occasional, leisure, or self-consumed activities, which is very different from passion that we all think we know today."

“I am speechless, Hyunhwa. I never saw it that way before. I didn’t think I could link passion to the two core purpose.”

“Yes, you can. The thing about your own passion is that you will be driven to work on it every day because it creates value and builds meaningful relationships with the other person who receives that value. Holding back means that the other person will not get the value. What is the meaning of life if that happens?" "Not much." "Your day is like a spinning wheel, the more value you give out, the further the wheel takes you, and the more value you get back - like growth, financial gains, opportunities, satisfaction. All of which will strengthen your passion even further. It is only from our deepest passion that we can proceed to run our lives the way we want to. "

“Wow. I am starting to see how it all relates now."

“On passion, I would like to show you the last section of my secret garden. It represents the happiest part of my life where I am living every single day to deliver my core purpose and by doing what I am most passionate about. I planted my favourite

flowers here, it always makes me very happy when I see them. Here are some sunflowers and lilies, beneath them is a lovely patch of soft grass. I sometimes lay here on my back to have a look at the clouds above. Please lay here and I will join you.”

Hyunhwa joined me as I laid myself down, we spent a lot of time talking about her current writing projects and how she decided to become a writer. She has aspirations to touch the hearts of people around the world through her writing and that is what she is pursuing every single day. To know that someone like her is on a mission to make a difference through her passion for writing, is very inspirational to me.

“Can I ask you another question?” I had to ask.

“Yes.”

“How long did it take you to find your passion?”

“I can’t remember, but it took time. I did not have any at first.”

“So what is yours now?"

“I am passionate about teaching and writing because it can help others. Hearing about their success makes me even more passionate about what I do.“

Hyunhwa looked down at her watch, “Oh no, I need to go now, back to the temple to make it back home for dinner.”

“Oh wait, how are we going to keep in touch?”

“Well, I don’t have a mobile phone, it takes me away from my writing. Let’s try and do something different. Why don’t we 36

leave our next meeting to fate? Through destiny, we may meet again. I think that life is more interesting that way.”

“What does that mean that life is more interesting that way? My life is rather upside down now considering the conversation with you and the monk. I don’t think I can take another lifechanging experience.”

“Haha, I have exchanged contacts with many people during my travels, and we end up not connecting anyway, so I would like to believe that fate will bring us together one day.” Hyunhwa gave her last sweet smile. “I am not sure what to say, this will be a first for me and I will be anticipating our next encounter.”

“I will go now. Please take care of yourself, and I hope you find your passion.” Hyunhwa bid farewell and left back to the temple.

I felt a little rejected with the whole ‘meeting by fate’ concept. When will she and I ever meet again? Maybe never. I guess what is important is our shared moments together. I wonder whether the monk can tell me more about her later.

It is time to head back to the temple with renewed thoughts about life, how passionate and purposeful it can be and what I should do to create value for others and build meaningful relationships with them.

I am excited and extremely optimistic about the future that I am about to carve out for myself. What I was left curious at the end was really about Hyunhwa, and her dark past. She had that deep look in here eyes when we were on the hill and in her secret garden, what happened to her?

I had my lunch and headed over to the tea house to meet the monk. I wonder what he has to tell me next.

Questions For Readers

1. What happens when you are passionate about something? 2. How can you develop a passion? 3. How is passion linked to your business?