Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music. ~ Angela Monet (Who is she?)

I love the suggestion of passion it conjures a myriad of images from sexual fervor to exciting possibilities enthusiastic dedication. Unless we’re nearly comatose, filled with brain numbing drugs we’re all have the capacity to be passionate about something. The degree of our passion(s) depends on how willing we are to look at our desires pursue them.

Passion rules us all, we obey insists Joss Whedon (American screenwriter, producer creator of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer). “What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow…empty rooms shuttered dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.”

What’s your passion? If you spend endless hours either doing what you love trying to find time to do what you love then you’re aware of your passion. It comes in many forms from dancing, fishing, painting, golfing, writing, skiing, climbing to polishing your car, riding a bike, collecting art & music, playing your guitar, caring for animals or the environment, helping abused children or shopping (that’s one you might want to take a look at).

Perhaps you have more than one, diversified to the point of exhaustion? That’s okay at least you know you’re alive you’ll keep pursing your passions to the end.
If you can’t pin-point something that gets you excited (we all have different levels of enthusiasm so don’t worry if yours doesn’t light up the room), then you might have a problem it’s time to get moving.

I mention passion in this arts magazine because of all the areas of our life art is able to bring creativity, zeal enthusiasm to it. We fill our homes offices with art, we get excited that we find the perfect sculpture for our garden (so what if it was only $20 at the antique store), we go to the theatre watch others who are pursuing their passion (great dancers aren’t great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion) or we can’t put a novel down because of the intrigue, perhaps a story so compelling it takes us somewhere else entirely.
Martha Beck (coach, columnist, author Finding Your Own North Star) describes passion: “including the manifestations of passion we feel within ourselves therefore call ours—is not something we can grasp or own but a force of nature, connected to influenced by things that extend far beyond any puny human self. Finding it isn’t like bagging an expensive trinket; it’s like leaving comfortable, familiar terrain behind us throwing ourselves into the sea. Many of us avoid taking the plunge. We turn away from the ocean, ignoring the roar of breakers, refusing to notice how our hair prickles when we smell the salt water. Then we spend years looking for our lost passion in the s of a grotesquely overpopulated place I call the Isle of Yeah-but.”

I agree with Martha: keep the yeah kick the but. There’s just so much to be a little crazy about in this world that you owe it to yourself everyone around you to grasp a level of enthusiasm rise to your passion. Your chosen work, your commitment to something of value the things you find the most pleasure in….put them all together there’s your passion.
Just a little essence of something to think about! Your passion should become the defining element of the true purpose for your life.

by PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS Cascade A&E Publisher