There are about 7.4 billion people on the planet right now, and my hope is that every single one of those individuals has some kind of passion in their life. I mean, I guess some of those 7.4 billion are babies, so I’ll cut them a break and give them some extra time to figure out what they love. I am not great at math, but I am pretty sure that even when you subtract the new little nuggets it is impossible not to find someone out there who loves what you love. I know from experience that no matter how “strange” you think your passion is, if you feel strongly about it, chances are someone else does too.

I recently attended a conference called Mothapalooza in southern Ohio. It’s the second time I have gone because it’s pretty much an awesome, super fun, nerdfest. (Which by the way, is the highest compliment I will ever give.) Have you heard of Lolapalooza? Same thing, just moths and caterpillar performers instead of humans. There were hundreds of people attending this conference. People were selling handmade artwork, native plants, attending field trips and workshops, and all of them were there to celebrate- you guessed it- moths. Who would have known that there were hundreds of people in our area who were so jazzed about moths?

The keynote speaker was Sam Jaffe, who runs The Caterpillar Lab in New Hampshire. His story resonates with what I am struggling to express, and does it with much fewer words, so here we go. Sam grew up in New England with a fascination for caterpillars and parents who encouraged that fascination. During his talk, he wove this story of a mother who was an artist and showed him he could draw and photograph caterpillars, and a father who was a scientist and would help him observe and experiment. He grew into an adult who could see these animals. Like really see them. He knew that they had a story to tell, and that people needed to hear it.

So Sam started doing traveling caterpillar exhibits, in both photographic series and with living creatures. These exhibits told the stories of how caterpillars molt, how they sting, how parasites attack them, and how they grow and change into adults. Through his art, Sam told the story of a caterpillar that makes a hat (out of his own dead skin by the way!) specifically built for whacking incoming threats, which he wears above his head on a long hair. Did you know this was going on in your backyard? I sure didn’t.

There were so many people interested in his excitement and enthusiasm as he told the stories of these animals that it grew and grew until it became a business. His passion was so strong and so visible that it turned into a movement. The Caterpillar Lab’s Facebook bio even says, “The Caterpillar Lab is passionate about showcasing the amazing diversity of northeastern caterpillars through educational programs, the arts, and sciences.” It’s right there in their bio. Passionate.

We all have different passions in us. Just because I am passionate about insects and spiders and other creepy crawly things doesn’t mean that you have to be. But I lean into growing my knowledge of them, because I know that there are other people out there who care; people who need me to care. I know that if my heart is telling me that I love doing something that I shouldn’t fight it just because I think society will find it abnormal.

The whole time I was at Mothapalooza I was listening to these amazing inspiring words being spoken, and my heart was breaking. I was thinking about all the children who didn’t have parents like Sam’s. Children who had a love for caterpillars, or moths, or whatever, who had no idea of the community that was out there to support them. Children who felt so alone for so long, just because they only knew the support that they saw, and they were seeing through a microscope. Children growing into young adults that shut down their passions because of how they thought they would be perceived, or how they were already being perceived. My heart was breaking for anyone out there who wasn’t encouraged to love what he or she wanted to love.

I want to find a way for all of them to know that they aren’t alone. You can love moths even though your friends and family don’t understand how or why, or think you are weird or gross, or say any of the other harsh words that leave the mouths of those who don’t understand. Just love them because you want to. You aren’t alone. Somewhere, not too far away, there are hundreds of people at a conference staying up until 3am photographing moths together. Lean into your passions because you never know what they are going to become, or who you will help support and grow into themselves. I promise there are so many people that need you to live your passions for them. I promise you’re not alone.