Scraping for Passion

Affection, ardor, dedication, intensity, joy, fury, zeal - all synonyms for passion - otherwise known as the non-profits fruit cocktail of must have characteristics for the ideal employee. The story goes, if you are passionate about art, you'll do just about anything - for as little as possible -for it. Few things have satisfied me these past few years, as I've seen troves of artists, cultural workers and non-profit folx calling it out. Passion is rightfully a companion to art, but when employers make it a contingency of your livelihood and your ability to live a dignified life, it reinforces inequality, superiority, othering and opportunism.

We're done scraping by and we're done staying quiet. Im ready to see the non-profit sector keep passion as a requirement of the job, but only when you don't have to be in a position of privilege to hold said job.