Passionate Pursuits

What do these three pictures have in common? It is passion. The two gentleman in the picture, Prince and Giacomo Casanova were lucky enough to learn their great passions early in life. The lady, me, was not as fortunate. Prince performed and wrote great music before he was twenty. Casanova discovered his life’s purpose, the pursuit of love, at a very early age as well. I am the only living member of the pictured trio and am a slow learner.

Moving from one hobby to the next creative hobby in some attempt to find the passion inside me, I struggled. Photography, gardening, painting, none done very well, held my attention for a few years at a time. Way down inside me a little voice would say, “Write, Stupid.” It took a while, but I finally listened. My passion finally bloomed in some wonderfully inspiring continuing education courses at the community college.

Always before, as I went about my pursuits, at a certain point the disappointment would set in. Some of my photos were pretty good. I learned to grow orchids and cover my yard with blooms. I would occasionally paint a decent water color, but I always moved on. When I wrote stories, the quality didn’t really matter to me. I just had to write. There is certainly disappointment with the quality of my writing once in a while. This is not enough to put out the fire of passion thank goodness. The difference is I couldn’t stop writing now if I wanted to. I have found the doorway into the passion in my soul. Do you dare to find yours?

Wouldn’t it be fun to read about an ER doc’s lessons in passion from and 18th century libertine?