Bondage, Fetishes, and Cream Puffs: Finding a Job in Your Passion

I am at a point in my life right now, where I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do to make money. Law school was supposed to provide me with a sure path towards economic stability. But, things don't always turn out as planned. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life as an attorney? I'm afraid my heart is just not in it. I want to be passionate about what I do for a living. I want to love my job. That puts me in a pickle. I've spent the last three years doing something I really find no joy in. Where does that leave me? Well... I'll set that aside for now and get to the point of this post: job passion.

Needless to say, passion is a vital ingredient in any person's life. You have to have it. It's the thing that keeps you going. Without it, there would be no point in going on. Your job should make you money, yes, but it should also provide personal fulfillment. So what turns you on? What lights you up and gets you going? For me, the answer is pretty clear. Running. I love running, and I love health and fitness. I love writing. If there was some way to merge these interests in a way that was profitable and in a way that I could make a living off of, well then, I'd be set for the long haul.

Just recently, I watched two astonishing documentaries that deeply affected me. At first I couldn't figure out why I found them so touching, but then I realized the common thread running through both films: they were each about people that had such passion for their line of work. These people don't find passion in their careers so much as they find careers in their passion.



The first documentary is called "Kings of Pastry" (2009). It follows pastry chef Jacquy Pfeiffer as he competes in a grueling three-day competition to be named Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France). The film shows the painstaking labor that goes into creating intricately detailed, three-feet high sugar sculptures, delicate cakes, and precious cream puffs. This is hard work. And I mean hard! The chefs that take part in this competition work round the clock to ensure perfection in their creations. They work until they are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. One of the competitors says during a break "If I don't win this year, I will not be coming back. I'm done. This is too difficult."



"Kings of Pastry" conveys the drama of the passion that these men feel for what they do for a living. In one astonishing scene, a chef has his sugar sculpture collapse while he moves it from one table to another. This is the same sculpture that has taken him hours upon hours to create. Now destroyed. The man breaks down. It is an emotional moment for him and for us, as the audience. You sense the magnitude of the sacrifices these men have made to be where they are; you feel their disappointment and you feel their joy.



The second documentary is called "Fetishes" (1996). This movie takes us behind closed doors into the little-understood world of S&M and bondage. We spend time at a place called Pandora's Box, a very high-scale dungeon in Manhattan, where clients pay upwards of $1,000 for an hour long session with one of Mistress Raven's dominatrices. Most people who have no experience with bondage, including myself, pass judgment on those who are "into" that kind of thing. There is the mistaken belief that S&M always involves pain, which it doesn't. The heart of this lifestyle is the transfer of power and control. It is all psychological, a fantasy. Finally, here is an unblinking look at the S&M lifestyle that does not make you feel icky while watching it. It looks at the subject matter with genuine curiosity.

The best part of the movie is listening to the girls who work in the dungeon. They are all fascinating, articulate, intelligent women. They are serious about the work they do. One dominatrix says, "We provide an outlet that our clients aren't getting anywhere else in society." This is true. It is not pretentious to claim that these exercises in bondage and S&M are quite therapeutic for the clients of Pandora's Box. And at the heart of this movie is the passion with which the dominatrices perform their work, and make no mistake about it, that is what they do: they perform. Like actresses, they play out the desires of their clients. To do this work on a daily basis takes a lot of dedication. They must believe in the significance of their work, and they must enjoy their work. At one point, one dominatrix says, "You have to love people to do this job."

Two documentaries. Both about people who are passionate about what they do for a living. Both represent the kind of attitude I hope to approach life with, now and until the day I die, and that is an attitude of complete devotion. Maybe we are all here on Earth for a purpose. Finding that purpose is probably a life-long journey. I have some major thinking to do. The future is uncertain. I don't know what I am going to do or where I am going to end up. It's really frightening. But, I will always stay true to my heart and heed my passions rather than neglect them.