PASSION MANIA

#brokentoysoldiers

I've been hearing a lot lately the famous question from random strangers: What is your true passion? Which could be sometimes translated it into: Who are you? Are you average? HAVE YOU FOUND YOURSELF YET?

"When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn."

— John Wesley

This may be really just one cool part of an easy going conversation where people are genuinely interested in each other. And that's wonderful. If you look and listen carefully, people show their passions all the time-what they notice, what they believe, what they choose, what they dream, how they talk, how they dress, how they walk, when they're stressed, how they smile, when they cry, when they protest, when they try... But not once have I experienced this question through different vibe. Sometimes you may sense that people are not really trying to get to know the real you, when they are trying to put a certain price on you. You wouldn't ask anyone just like that if they're in love with someone, would you? Well, some people would, mostly those who confuse their superficiality for an extra ordinance.

To hide a passion totally (or even to hide, more simply, its excess) is inconceivable: not because the human subject is too weak, but because passion is in essence made to be seen: the hiding must be seen: I want you to know that I am hiding something from you, that is the active paradox I must resolve: at one and the same time it must be known and not known: I want you to know that I don't want to show my feelings: that is the message I address to the other. 

-Roland Barthes

I guess the media trends have played a huge role in all this passion-equals-identity obsession. While exposing our individuality through the social networks, weather we want it or not, we sell ourselves and buy other peoples stories, comparing each one and making specific criteria about who's leading a successful and meaningful life & who's not. And here we are-successful life equals passionate life. So that today, the meaning of the passion has lost it's core-emotions. There are no emotions where there are no real human connections. And what you see is never what you get. But I guess it is still very important to make others believe that WE are special, and yes, that we are the ones who understand life better than anyone else.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." 
-Albert Einstein


A master Passion is the love of news.
-George Crabbe

A little story about Jackie, Lily and Mary.
Jackie likes to have many hobbies. Horse riding, dancing & singing in the band. She can afford herself lot of travelling. She likes to fill her schedule. Everyone knows Jackie is passionate about her hobbies. That makes her interesting, therefore, special. She could say, her passion is leading a full life and making the best of it.

Lily also likes to engage herself in different activities, but hates having everything scheduled. She gets bored easily and passion is not a stable concept for her. She finds it in one line in the book, in some random bar, in the nature, or in the middle of the night when some new idea pops into her head and she decides to make something of it. Lily's like the rolling stone, passionate for discovering new things and life itself.
Mary likes cooking so much that she made a nice career of it. Since she was little, she has always loved preparing different kinds of dishes for her family & friends. She experiments, creates & travels to discover different flavours. Now she leads her on talk show about healthy food and her new book ''Healthy flavours from all over the world'' is about to come out. Mary is passionate and talented cook who managed to mix business with pleasure.
Jackie, Lily & Mary are all passionate creatures. 

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music -- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself. 


-Henry Miller

The Passion of laughter is nothing else but a sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmities of others, or with our own formerly…

-Thomas Hobbes

Many people confuse passion with talent-passion involves a lot of emotions, results in personal satisfaction, might or might not result with a specific talent. Passion is an interior process. It's a specific, unique and intense perception of the world. Talent is rare, inborn potential one should work on  to make the best of it, to grow, weather or not it might bring a certain kind of formal success. On the other hand, craft-that's something one can learn, more or less, any time, weather it is sewing, drawing, dancing or even singing, and so on. With or without the talent or passion, people do things for their own satisfaction, to survive and succeed, to please different aspects of themselves and the society.

A poet could be a postman, and salesman could be a great dancer without ever getting on stage. A sculptor can create great work, an art without deeper emotional meaning. A singer can lose her passion in the music industry, while some mathematician can only work with this same music turned on all the time. There are no rules or definitions other than ones we create.

In the human heart new passions are forever being born; the overthrow of one almost always means the rise of another. 


-Francois de la Rochefoucauld

"Love is the spiritual essence of what we do. Technique is the manifestation of the preparation and investment as a result of the love."

— Wynton Marsalis

Magic happens when talent, craft, work and passion meet. Magic also happens when passion meets other similar passions and when the stars shine the light to make a path for them to glow. You can't force yourself to glow. And it's impossible to glow all the time. Just like the candle, when the one is finished, light another one, but also grant yourself some rest in the dark. And don't be fooled by those who desperately seek to evaluate you. The ''shiny ones'' shouldn't be concerned with the concept of pricing. They simply enjoy the light they create. Some may see it, others not. Some might want to steal it. Someone's talent might be to see the true nature of everything. Someone said everyone and everything is extraordinary today, so that in the end, nothing is extraordinary any more.

Our passions do not live apart in locked chambers but dress in their small wardrobe of notions, bring their provisions to a common table and mess together, feeding out of the common store according to their appetite.

-George Eliot

So I'm gonna ask you, have you found yourself yet? Did the stars tell you which way to look? Did you forget to stand on the ground while being blinded by them? Don't forget you are not alone while trying to find yourself, cause when you carry the love inside your soul, you already have the strongest passion and inspiration for every battle under the sky. And don't quit just because before each finish line, there could be hundreds of small goals, and not all of them feel like the fire burning inside your soul. They are all important. You can sing, dance and carry your heart through any road. So sing along, kind people, stay brave and keep on rolling. Cause you don't know where the journey ends anyway. The only wrong roads are those who promise the finish line in the beginning and the magnificent, incessant fire. That's the same description of the hell, after all. The passion itself can come from such place. Destruction and revenge. Use your flames wisely.

Three passions simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life; the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. 
-Bertrand Russell

A.B.

Love, Invitation to Inspiration