Long Hollow

What is your Passion?

I'm just curious, because I've been trying to figure out what to write in this post about "Passion" for my friend Jillsy's One Word Wednesday theme. 

I thought this would be an easy one…I mean, I'm a passionate person…aren't I? 

I have a passion for my God, my family and friends, my writing, full moons, photography, books, history, ping-pong, my blogs, dancing, the environment, staying in shape, being healthy, music, drums, peace, learning, people, stories…

I have a passion for Life! 

But wait. Are those really passions? Maybe I'm just confusing addictive hobbies and collections, a volcanic temper, and being overly sensitive with Passion.

I'm starting to stress now. 

Hmmm…it shouldn't be this difficult. Back to the basics… 

Just what is Passion, exactly? According to the definition, Passion is:

"any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate…" I think that covers God, Family, and Friends…except for the "hate" part, of course…irritation, yes; anger, sometimes; hate, never.

"…strong amorous feeling or desire…love; ardor; strong sexual desire; lust…a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire…" Okay, that part's easy. I'm passionate for Tom, definitely. (sorry, kids, if you're reading this, but how do you think you got here?)

"…a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything, such as a passion for music… the object of such a fondness or desire…" I guess that means my addictive hobbies and collections can be classified as Passions, after all. 

But it seems to me that if they were truly Passions, I'd be running marathons; I would have already published two or three books, at least, and I'd have zillions of hits on my blogs every day. I'd be making so much money on these 'passions' that I could kiss my day job goodbye (a totally un-passionate kiss, of course!) 

If Passion is what we spend most of our time doing, then mine is daydreaming, followed closely and in no specific order by photography, throwing my words and thoughts on a blank page, praying, checking on my loved ones. 

If it's what we want to spend our time doing, then mine would be traveling, having new experiences, seeing new places, preferably with Tom or friends. I'm sure I would snap some pictures and write about it, but those wouldn't be the driving passions.

Passion can also be violent anger (you've heard of "crimes of passion", haven't you?) but what pops in my mind when I hear the word Passion is Love. That's what I think of…love. Tom. My kids. 

Even my dogs. Yesterday morning Max wasn't around when I called. I started getting worried, of course. What if he had gone completely lame? What if a coyote got him?

When I heard him barking in the distance, I ran toward him. Ran into the woods carrying just my camera (because I had it with me for my routine walk), wondering what I was going to encounter and if it was a cougar or coyote or something, how was I going to fight it off? But I didn't slow down. I kept running to Max.

He was fine…just taking an early morning dip in an upstream pond to soothe his aching joints. Maybe he was barking at a turtle, or just to let me know where he was. But the thing is, in a split second I had considered the fact that I might be in danger, and I was prepared to face it to help him. Is that passion?

I think so. And that's the kind of passion I have for Tom, my kids, my family, my friends…all of these other things I'd drop in a heartbeat if they really needed me. People are my passion.

Christ's Passion…the ultimate self-sacrifice. He loved so greatly, was so passionate in his love, he willingly accepted great suffering and death. 

Well, compared to that, I'm not as passionate as I thought I was, but it gives me something to work on. 

While I had Passion on my mind, I scrolled around on Facebook, checking on "my people", and these comments jumped out at me… 

"Life is short, so Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile."

"…is missing my Momma. The talks, the laughter, her sweet smile. Cherish your Mom, it's so hard when they are gone…."

"My heart will sing, how Great is our God"!

"Every person has 1000 wishes. A cancer patient only has one: to get better. I know that 97% will not post this as their status, but I know that my friends will be one of the 3% and put this as their status, at least for an hour, in honor of those who died because of cancer or are………STILL……fighting it!"

"life may suck at times but then i see your face and look into your eyes and suddenly i realize that everything is going to work out just fine!"

"MS is a suckie disease. It sucks the energy right out of ya……but I am NOT gonna let it suck the JOY out of my Life. I AM gonna Keep on smiling and laughing."

"life is too short, laugh when u can, apologize when u should, and let go of what u cant change, Love deeply and forgive quickly."

"Life is too short—talk,laugh,love—have some fun!"

Amen! Now those are lessons in Passion!