25/08/2025
Hello beautiful Souls. My message today is an analogue. I write about passion vs obsession with a good message in life that embraces progress and acceptance of those who have passion and life’s balance.
A sculptor once lived in a small, quiet village. He was known for his incredible work, shaping raw stone into figures that seemed to breathe with life. This was his passion—the joy of bringing beauty out of a stubborn, unyielding material. He worked with a steady, rhythmic tones and sounds, each strike of his chisel a dialogue with the stone. He was in control, but he also allowed the stone to guide him, respecting its natural grain and form.
When he worked, the world faded away. He felt a deep sense of peace and purpose, but he knew when to stop. He’d leave his workshop to share a meal with his family, walk, or simply sit and watch the sunset.
His passion was a beautiful addition to his life, not the sole reason for it. He created incredible art and lived a full, contented life, finding balance and joy in all its different parts. One day, a new apprentice came to him, a young man who also dreamed of creating great art. The apprentice had a fire in his eyes, but it was a different kind of fire. He didn't see the stone as a partner; he saw it as an obstacle to be conquered.
He was consumed by the idea of creating a single, perfect statue, one that would define him and earn him fame throughout the land. This was his obsession. He worked ceaselessly, day and night, ignoring the calls of his family and the gentle pull of the world outside.
His movements were frantic , not a patient dialogue with the stone, but a desperate fight against it. He didn't respect its flaws or its natural shape; he fought to bend it to his will. His hands were raw, his eyes were bloodshot, and his mind was a storm of anxious thoughts.
The desire for perfection became a prison. He began to see his art not as a source of joy but as a measure of his own worth. The more he worked, the more the statue felt just out of reach, and the more desperate he became.
The sculptor watched with a heavy heart. He tried to speak to the young man, to remind him of the beauty in the process, of the value of rest and the importance of a life lived in balance. But the apprentice couldn't hear him. The absolute need for perfection had deafened him to everything else.
The village grew to know the difference between the two men. They admired the sculptor for his skill, but they loved him for his humanity—the way he smiled and shared his time with them. They pitied the apprentice, for they saw how his art had consumed him, leaving nothing else behind.
One day, exhausted and defeated, the apprentice's single-minded focus led to a fatal misstep. The stone, pushed too far, splintered into a thousand pieces, taking his great masterpiece with it. He sank to the ground, heartbroken, surrounded by the rubble of his obsession.
The sculptor sat with him. He didn’t try to fix the broken statue or offer the explanation of “things happen for a reason” speech. He simply sat in the quiet space of shared sorrow and acceptance. It was a long time before the apprentice spoke, his voice cracked and hollow. "I had to have it," he whispered. "I had to be the best."
The sculptor nodded. "True passion lets you love the process, not just the outcome," he said gently. "It allows for joy, even in failure, because you learn from it. Obsession, however, demands perfection and leaves no room for anything else. The world is full of beauty, not just in the art we create, but in the people we love and the moments we live. When you are truly passionate, your art adds to your life; it doesn't replace it."
The apprentice began to understand. The sculptor's life was a mosaic of happy moments, each one a different shade of fulfillment. His own life, in contrast, had been a single, frantic stroke of one color, and now it was broken. The message is a simple one for life's journey. We should not fear those with great desire or drive.
We should understand that passion is not a threat to our own peace but a different path to fulfillment. We can support each other by recognizing the fine line between the two and encouraging a path of balance, acceptance, and growth. We can build a world where we all have the space to pursue what sets our souls on fire, without losing ourselves in the flames. We can celebrate the journey, finding our own rhythm and our own way to live peacefully, one steady, purposeful strike at a time. All in all life’s balance…to experience that productivity is just a byproduct of what we produce.
