I met Ken at a party. He’s sort of a jack-of-all trades — a singer and a photographer/videographer. We began talking to each other because he noticed that I had brought my camera with me to the event. Somehow, this eventually led to a conversation about passion.
Ken freelances and also sings in public to entertain people. For a period of time, he performed up to 10 hours a day in the subway. In the heat of his performances, he never realized how much his feet hurt from standing all the time. His music helped numb the pain, even on the slow days when he would sing for hours without making a single dollar.
There are moments that make his efforts worthwhile. Once a lady left a note inside his tip box that said, “You have a beautiful voice.” That happens from time to time and it inspires him to continue to do what he does. To push himself, he told me that he wanted motivational tattoos on the back of each hand. Something along the lines of “work hard.”
To me, he truly embodied passion in its purest form and his love for his craft inspired me. I haven’t come across that feeling in a very long time.
