Just when I was about to list activities which I consider my passions, Karen Koenig posted the following on her "Food & Feelings" board:
"There sure is alot of confusion about passion and productivity. They're like apples and oranges, if you'll excuse the allusion. Passionate activity has no aim but itself. With passion, there is no goal, measurement of success, no endpoint except stopping the activity. The purpose of passion is to be engaged, to feel full up with joy, to be in the moment and nowhere else. Productivity is another story. It is outcome-oriented and can be measured. There is nothing right or wrong with either process, but they should not be confused with each other.
What are your beliefs about passion and not being productive? Where did you come to (wrongly) believe that being productive is better than being non-productive? That doing is better than simply being? That every action must have a purpose or goal? That perfection is better than having fun? Two books which might help sort this stuff out are: Eckhart Tolle's THE POWER OF NOW and Thomas Moore's CARE OF THE SOUL."
Hmmmm ... I realize many of my activities involve productivity. I sometimes discount what I do online, writing for my own blog, commenting on other's blogs, supporting friends with daily IM or email exchanges. I keep thinking I should limit my online time so that I can do something more productive like sew, walk, cook, clean, etc. Am I really passionate about writing, even when nobody reads or comments about what I write? Can I write just for the sake of writing? I certainly did that with this blog, although I deleted previous blogs, because I didn't receive many reply comments.
Nevertheless, I want to honestly acknowledge what I feel passionate about. I sometimes discount many of the following items as unnecessary, too difficult, wasted time, unsuitable for my situation, age, health challenges, etc. However, I feel strongly about the following and/or lose track of time while engaged in the following:
(1) WILD BIRDS: Feeding coots (waterfowl) while walking around our local lake, watching songbirds at our feeders, bird bath and nesting boxes;
(2) SUNNY WEATHER: being outside (walking, biking, playing tennis, etc.) in the sunshine, which is limited during Seattle winters and why I want to live in Maui, after we retire;
(3) CLOTHES: I love shopping for and trying on clothes, whether or not I buy them, making new garments and altering old garments to fit better, and "What Not to Wear" on TLC. Yes, I modelled for awhile in vintage fashion shows. I would love to work for a boutique like Serendipity in Maui!
(4) SEWING especially garments, but also doing alterations for my husband's clothes. I dislike doing pattern alterations, because I just want to sew. Last Christmas I only requested and received one gift from my husband: a new sewing machine.
(5) HELPING other people with digestive issues, especially celiac disease, food related IgG allergies and other intestinal imbalances. (I led a celiac disease support group for 2 years and organized 2 celiac disease awareness walks in my city.)
(6) READING, esp. anything related to fashion, sewing, health, allergy free cooking, or any of my other passions. (I devour books like I used to binge.)
(7) POSTING entries on this blog and comments on others' blogs, especially about recovering from gastrointestinal issues or disordered eating habits.
(8) COOKING healthy allergy free food (I seldom follow exact recipes, because I prefer 'creative' cooking.)
(9) MUSIC, especially inspirational, instrumental. I would like to find more time to play my piano. I love our Sunday Evening Worship services which features contemporary praise songs and frequently original compositions by the music team leader and/or members.
(10) Did I mention MAUI? LOL
I intended to analyze whether each of those activities are passion or productivity. However many of those items are both, i.e, I enjoy the process, but I also create a 'product'. In order to allow myself to enjoy the process, during activities like sewing, I need to release any expectations about the 'product'. Playing my piano is mostly a process. Maybe walking around the lake to feed coots is predominately a 'process', because I enjoy watching those funny looking birds run on water or land to get to me and my peanuts. However I still get walking exercise. Feeding the coots just motivates me to get healthy exercise during cold, gray Seattle days, when coots are abundant and hungry. Nevetheless, I won't analyze the other items on my list. I suspect readers will add their own analyses. LOL
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4 comments:
We're saving for a trip to Hawaii with our son in a couple years. He's absolutely obsessed with volcanos and anything volcano related, and wants to be a volcanologist when he grows up. Where is the best place to go to see good volcano action? Does Hawaii have family oriented all inclusives?
Hi April: The 'big' island of Hawaii (not Maui) has the only active volcanos which people can visit. I haven't visited that island, because Maui no ka oi (is the best) IMO. However, your son would probably love the volcano on Hawaii. You'll have to contact the Hawaii visitors bureau website to learn more. Sorry, I'm just a Maui gal.
SUE
I love your list, Sue. :) I hope to get to go to Hawaii myself this summer with my husband. He is supposed to have a meeting there (crossing my fingers). I would have to see which island it is to, but I don't think it's Maui.
I'm going to do a post on my passions now; you've inspired me. I think all of yours are great, and you are a HUGE help to so many people I know with ED and Celiac Disease. I really hope to change my career path to a focus on addictive counseling as I think I mentioned. It's not a hurry thing for me, but in the next few years, I'd really like to be doing that. I have a BA in psychology; I just need the MA. :)
Thanks, Lisa. I swing between overextending myself 'helping others' (like when I led support groups) and wanting to return to more introverted pursuits (like sewing). I may have 'boundary' problems, where I give too much and then want to back off. I've done that several times during that past 10 years.
I have a BS with honors in psych and completed one year toward my MC (masters in community mental health counselling) before I quit my grad program to become a free lance artist for 20 years. Because I taught myself to paint and run my own business, I just can't rationalize paying for training to help other people, when I can do that voluntarily.
However the expense of school, almost guarantees a title, which may help procure a paid position. Nevertheless, when I was in school, there was such a glut of counsellors in the Seattle area, that I faced moving out of state to find a paying job. That influenced my decision to start my own business.
I enjoyed painting and selling paintings. However I had to be healthy enough to set up a booth and endure 3 day arts & crafts fairs. Physical challenges, which required major surgery, then completely changing my diet, and then seeking treatment for ongoing symptoms, influenced my choice to retire that business.
After doing crisis, probation and community mental health counselling before and during my master's program, and then running my own business for 20 years, I feel like I'm kinda floundering now. Nevertheless I rather enjoy the lack of daily drama or even boredom of pursuing several lower key passions.
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