I thought it was very interesting when Miss Earth New Zealand Eva Wilson mentioned she felt she had an obligation to use her voice for the less privileged in her community given her unique set of skills and talents (well-spoken certainly being one of them).
I mentioned that I knew what that was like given that I have felt a similar obligation for some time now, being a neutral voice in the pageant industry with no particular affiliations or loyalties to anyone.
In my experience that obligation can weigh heavily at times. I certainly haven't felt that there are many people in the pageant industry in a similar position to myself (in fact I fail to really think of a single genuine example).
And at the same time there is such a focus in this day and age (and rightly so to an extent) on finding something that you love doing and that you're passionate about.
It can be tricky to find that balance when the 'obligation' and the 'passion' don't necessarily lie in the same direction, particularly when it comes to making career choices.
You may feel that your skillset or natural talents lead you in a particular direction, but you may feel very little passion about it.
On the other hand you may feel extremely passionate about a direction, but have no particular skillset or natural talent in that area (of course that can always be worked on to some extent).
I've always felt that there's an element of luck in having your natural talents and your passion align, even more so when that alignment produces something that society deems 'valuable', i.e. you can actually get paid for it.
But for the rest of us, that's why I believe it's so important to try as many different things as possible, because I believe you need to WORK to find your passion. It doesn't simply fall on your head by accident.
You can check out my interview with Eva below: