Passion is an interesting thing in our culture and in our generation. People want to follow people who are passionate. Since moving over to Paris I have been thinking about this a lot…so now I’ll unpack a little bit of my thoughts…
Passion is like a steel marble that is put in the middle of a table. If the table is rocked a little bit then the marble starts moving…and once it starts moving it doesn’t stop until it rolls of the table.
Passion is like a fire. The more wood a person invests in it the bigger the flames get, but then more wood is needed to continue to keep the fire burning that way.
What happens if the marble rolls in the wrong direction? What happens if the wood runs out?
In my old life I was viewed as passionate. I think that would have been correct. I wanted to be passionate. Passion gave me an outlet. Passion was my excuse to say things that might offend people and not really have to feel responsible for my actions. I look back and I realize that my passion was really just a safe outlet for anger that was below the surface. My times of teaching or espousing my opinions on others were like making a really small hold in a balloon of anger…it didn’t pop the balloon, but let some of the tension out.
I don’t believe that my passion was always like that…I could feel the difference though…If I was going to say something that I wanted to say and would make me feel some sort of release (having myself on my mind first) then I think that it was bad. My passion was truly healthy when at my core I cared first and foremost for the people I was talking to. This shows me two things about passion…1. If a person is not self aware about their own selfishness and pride they would never know this. 2. If passion is not bound by wisdom it is not just a fire…it’s a dangerous and internally (maybe externally) destructive thing. Passion without wisdom is one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever played with.
I also thing that we confuse two things in this arena: passion and emotion. Does passion need to be filled with tears or a raised voice? Emotion is a clever disguise for passion…i’ve worn it. I think that it is sad how our generation flocks to anything emotional…It almost seems that if anybody says anything with any amount of conviction people think it’s true and right. But maybe the marble was rolling in the wrong direction?
I have come to believe that passion looks less like emotion and more like persistence. Passion doesn’t give up when hard times come, but emotion may run dry. Passion won’t quit when things don’t go ones way. Passion isn’t fueled by external circumstances, but is driven by what is within…I’m working on becoming this type of passionate person. It’s not as instantly rewarding, but I think it wins in the end.
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