His passion was jazz, and his goal was to save it from deliberate desolation. Her dream was to become a successful actress. In the end, both the passionate and the dreamer got what they wanted. Well, one of them got the better end of the deal, depending on which one you’re rooting for. In this movie, La La Land, I give one point to the dreamer.

The koala wants to preserve his father’s legacy, while the pig, the gorilla, the porcupine, the mouse, and the elephant all want to sing. In the end, everybody wins, but not without major disasters here and there. In this movie, Sing, it’s a stalemate between dream and passion.

Final tally: dreams win, and passion sucks.

No one loses from a dream. Anyone can have at least one, but not everyone is expected to have any. Those who have dreams can choose to use these either as inspiration in, or diversion from, reality. Those who do not have any dream (or would not admit to having one) prefer to live in the here and now. No nonsense. Boring, even.

Passion, on the other hand, is for suckers. They are aware of the pains that go with the pursuit, and yet they do it anyway. Why? Because they take pleasure in the pain, knowing that once they reach their peak, the reward is ethereal. Otherworldly. Hedonic. I can go all 50 shades in describing the orgasmic pursuit of one’s passion, but that’s really how it is. Only the passionate can feel exactly what I mean.

You know what else works? Making passion co-exist with dreams. I know of friends who use their passion as a tool to live a dream. They are artists who are making profits out of their craft. Imagine doing something that you love and earning a living while you’re at it.

I also happen to know some people whose dreams motivate them to focus on their passion. They are travelers who love writing about their adventures. At the start of each year, they collect photos — digital and printed — of places they want to visit, ravenously hunt for airfare promos, unleash their nose for good accommodation deals, save up for the trip, and then map their “adven-tour”. YOLO is their AMEN.

I’m sure you have already read so many things about dreams and passion from life-coaching blogs and testimonies from dreamers and passionate peeps out there, so I’ll shed the cheerleader’s role here. I just happen to be one who never run out of dreams and discovered the passion for writing when I was seven years old (or thereabouts). And I’m telling you, I’m having the time of my life!

Oh, yeah do watch La La Land and Sing. In that order, one after another, if you can. I guarantee you’ll have so much feels and hashtags afterwards.