Sometimes the path to finding your passion – that thing you do that makes your soul sing – isn’t a tidy straight line.

I know mine’s certainly had it’s fair share of detours.

I started out as a graphic designer, then tried my hand at floristry spending a couple of years working in London, back to NZ where I next studied and worked as a landscape designer, before coming full circle back to graphic design.

I kept searching for the right creative outlet. I slowly realised the thing that made me happiest was when I was working with my hands, making a physical thing you can touch and hold.

One day I stumbled across an image on pinterest of a simple necklace consisting of a chain with a metal washer hung on it which had some words stamped onto it.

I wondered – could I make a necklace like that myself? And started googling where to source the materials.

I fell down the google rabbit hole and into this world of jewellery making equipment and before I knew it, I’d placed an order for some basic metal smithing tools and away I went.

That was ten years ago now...

I guess the message I want to share is that you don’t always know what your passion is from the get-go. Sometimes it’s a winding path of exploration.

There is a great podcast by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love fame) on not following your passion, but following your curiosity.

I highly recommend you listen to this if you’re searching for that passion but feeling a bit stuck.

Stay curious folks.