What are you passionate about?
What are you passionate about? No really...
My friend asked me this question over a drink and I was left stumped for an answer. The obvious almost instinctive reaction is to reach for something - even a wisecrack but then you start to think...
I always thought I knew what I was passionate about till I was asked the question. Family, yeah for sure, work - [shrugs] but then what. If I had to go out of a burning house and assuming my family and essential papers et al were safe what would I try to save? Pictures (thank god the most savable among them are on Flickr). Music.... [shrugs] Books...hmmmm.....
But what is my passion really. When we are young it seems so crystal clear - Love, Ambition, Aspiration, Achievement - they all seems so real and well formed. Then comes your first job and the second, endless days and nights of meeting deadlines and dealing with numbskulls, compromises, breakups, makeups, bills that don’t get paid, appliances that break down, houses that don’t stay clean, commutes that seem to stretch on for ever and ever, family get together that constantly redefine "ultimate boredom" and all of a sudden - you are nearing your mid-thirties and wondering - What are you passionate about?
I tell my young cousins - in the US and India to clarify their thoughts, direct their energies and keep focused on their passion (assuming they have identified it and not found it between the legs of a trollop or a screen idol). I watch then with some chagrin (and envy) at their disinterest - the chagrin for having the Curse of Cassandra as all elders have when they talk to the young and envy that they have the luxury to ignore it.... at least for now.
As for my own quest - I am still trying to remember. But it involves people and conversations. I have always been alone in my own mind and remain so in the largest of crowds. The moments that I live are when I am in a conversation with someone. Not necessarily any particular type of person but someone that I connect with at that point of time.
I am also passionate about moods. And pictures these moods invoke. A mist hanging over the hills of rural England. A lone camel and rider on a desert road in the afternoon. A heron breaking the stillness of the water with its idle skipping in a tropical pool in a forest cove. Its here that I retreat to in times of deep melancholy.
So anyway, enough about me - What are you passionate about?
posted by Sandeep at Tuesday, March 21, 2006
1 Comments:
That question really is a stumper.
However, you seemed to have hit the nail on the head with your response. What I see you as having a passion for is the sheer appreciation for life's beauty (aesthetic yes, but more towards its complexity). You are fascinated by all the things taking place in the world and the relationships you form with people. The fascination of life is truly is a high.
For me, however, I believe my passion is self-growth. This is primarily because I am young. I find myself constantly comparing myself to how I was 6 months ago, to a year ago, and ask myself "Have I improved?" and "Am I better than that person? (the former me)" I think I gain a lot of satisfaction when I beat myself.
As for me being unappreciative of what I have in life: that is true. I am. But I think that's part of being unsatisfied, and dissatisfaction is what leads to striving for the next level. I can't be happy with what I am or what I have, because then life stops, and the joy of challenges in life stops.
But I do think I need to be more appreciative of the people in my life. One thing I notice is that the people closest to me are the people I'm worst to. They are indeed luxuries.
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