Passion

This word makes me think of 1) Christian conferences and 2) Easter.  Neither of which is the point of this post. 

G and I have been talking lately about passion - the concept.  He just finished, and I'm currently reading, a book about a mountain climber and the author is just ravenous.  He slaved away at janitorial jobs and part time gigs for years so that he could save any and all extra money to climb mountains.  Everything he did was motivated by the goal of getting on a mountain.  I've also been following random art blogs and the author(s) stay up for 24-48 hours at a time to paint or sew or draw because they just have to.  It's very clear from their writing and their art that they are driven, I would even say consumed, to express themselves in creative ways.

In talking about these things, we were like, hmmmmmmm, do we have any passion at all?  About anything?

I think because of the types of lives we lead and the responsibilities we have (and the personalities we have), we are bound by convention, tradition, expectation (and we're quite aware that we live the lives we do - and put up with the crap we do - in order to be able to exercise our passions).  Only every once in a while does a passion sneak out and take over.  And in thinking about this, I've approached my passions in two ways:  1) When does it take me by surprise? 2) What would I choose to do all day every day if the choice were entirely mine?  (Answer:  eat.  Ha!  Ok, seriously.)

Animals
Ok, it's weird that animals would show up first on my list instead of, oh I don't know, God, or say, G.  And judging from the number of posts about rabbits on this blog, clearly my animal-loving nature ain't no big mystery.

But this passion honestly did take me by surprise today at work.  Our building is in an area where there are a lot of geese.  In spring they waddle around with their babies in tow and it's a complete miracle that I'm productive on any level.  I could stare at them all day and be just fine.  Anyway, we've had such a mild winter that they never migrated, and I see them daily.  Today, I didn't see any, and in the afternoon, a lone goose was waddling in the parking lot, straining his neck forward and calling.  Over and over.  Looking around as if in a daze.  I have no idea what really was going on, but it looked like his flock left him and he was calling for them.  My heart hurt.  I mean, it really hurt.  I had to leave the room.  When I returned, even when I refused to look out the window, I could hear him calling and I couldn't take it.  People, if I saw a person trip and fall in that parking lot, I would probably chuckle to myself and continue on...  But an animal?  Alone?  And centient of being alone?  Forget it already.  Just kill me now.

Reading
If I could do anything I wanted, all day, every day, then reading would be a huge part of it.  I recently finished a book recommended to me by a coworker (Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian - read it immediately), and we spent a few minutes here and there talking about it.  A couple of days later, he stopped by my office and asked me what I planned to read next.  I told him I'm halfway into this mountain book and he was all, "What?  You're already reading another book?"  I was like, "Duh!"  Then it occured to me that I chain-read.  As smokers chain-smoke.  If books were cigarettes I would use the dying embers of one to light the next and keep on keepin' on.

There are few things in this world better than being smack dab in the middle of a good book.  Or being on, say, book 4 of a 10-book series.  The kind that makes you almost inhale the words and when you finish, you think, "I should read that again because I kind of made myself dizzy reading so fast."  For that very reason, I will SO be re-reading the Hunger Game series, My Sister's Keeper, and the Harry Potter series.  Also, anything by David Sedaris (WARNING:  he's not for everyone) or Anne Lamott (WARNING:  neither is she).

Travel
Again with the Whopping Duh realizations, but if I could see every part of the world, I would.  If I could afford to go nowhere but my own neighborhood I still would feel the need to explore every single part of it.  G and I both have this drive, this yearning, to have adventures in different places.  All joking aside, there really is a feeling of "I have to go there" when we read National Geographic or see something on the Discovery Channel.  We always have an answer for the question, So where are you guys going next?

Connections
At first, I thought of using the word "relationships" here but that would not be entirely accurate.  I have plenty of relationships and more than my fair share cause me grief and heartache.  Because of, oh, my life story, I do not have a passion for relationships.  I do, however, desire connections.  Not in a professional networking kind of way, either. 

I heard a Timothy Keller sermon about friendships and he said that when you discover a true friend, your soul says, "Oh!  You too?"  That resonates with me.  I just love having connections who get me, even if they only get certain aspects of me - like the travel junkie, or the animal maniac, or the foodie, or the theology junkie, or the hiker or the Vampire Diaries fanatic.

There was a time a few years ago that my BFJ came to stay with us for a couple of days.  Of course she and I would stay up and chatter at each other until all hours of the night.  Well, G was telling me that one morning, he got up early and knew we would be sleeping for another couple of hours.  He walked into the kitchen and saw an empty wine bottle, pepperoni and cracker crumbs, and cookie wrappers strewn over the kitchen counters.  Then he looked into the living room and saw a Jewish theology book open on the couch.  "That," he said, "is when I knew you two had a hell of a night."

I would do that all day, every day.

What are your passions?