[The following is an excerpt from Life is Too Short for Sensible Shoes. Purchase links below]
“That’s right, today we’re going sit down and talk about passion. As in, do you have a juicy, fiery, get-you-up-in-the-morning personal passion, or, like most of us, a dusty one in the attic somewhere, that we used to love to do, back in 1972…
For me, I have always aspired to be a writer. Some people are born with silver spoon; I came with a Bic pen and yellow legal pad. Throughout childhood I surrounded myself with stacks of books and papers, scribbling notes for the always future best-selling novel.
Inspired at age 12, I proudly wrote my first novel “My Mom and Me,” the quality of which immediately brings to mind Anne Lammott’s sentiments in Bird by Bird:
“Every writer has a book that will never be published … This will be yours.”
However, the writing attempt prompted my five-star poem on Paul Revere’s Ride that actually made it to the principal’s desk. My proud teacher told me that the principal couldn’t believe it was done by a sixth grader. At last, I thought, I have talent.
In high school I developed my writing passion through advertising competitions, earned national honors of all things, and wrote to compensate for obvious non-talents. Of note, when our college housing group did a classical music recital, I was without classical talent. Not wanting to be left on the sidelines, I composed and sang (using the verb loosely) humorous verse to the tune of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, a funny song that I still use in my speaking.
The important point here is that discovering and pursuing a passion is often not some climb-the-mountain shazammy experience–it’s usually found in doing a little bit here and a little bit there. The trick is to level extreme thinking, which may seem like an oxymoron when combined with the word passion. Throughout my life I have kept writing, even when it’s lousy, and even though I couldn’t do it full-time.
Weaving writing into life in other ways has brought great fulfillment and a good example to our children. To help them pursue a passion, we observe their interests and move them forward. This depends on the interest—for example, if it’s an air soft gun passion, we largely ignore it. Our oldest son has had many passions (should I say obsessions?), starting with Thomas the Tank Engine, through Legos, adding Pokemon cards and finally striking gold with a coin collection; this we can get behind. We take him to coin stores (once a month tempers the obsession), find mentors (older patient neighbor coin collectors) and ask our friends to bring home coins from their foreign trips.
Helping children find role models and mentors helps a passion become a possible job opportunity or scholarship. Keeping children focused on positive pursuits helps them develop talents as well as reminding parents that passions are for old and young alike.
To discover and pursue a passion for yourself, just begin to do what you love. As a child I soaked up all kinds of books, from Nancy Drew to Lord of the Rings (and didn’t understand a word). Reading Little Women, I identified with Jo—ink on my middle finger and our homemade version of the Pickwick Papers. Then in college I read the core classics: Dickens, Hemingway, and People magazine. All these deposits add to the passion account. Whatever your passion—oil painting, pottery or gardening—you can do something today: a summer class, supplies, an informative chat with an expert found in the Yellow Pages.
Developing a passion makes life’s experiences more purposeful and fulfilling. Writing columns pre- and post-childbirth has helped me do personal therapy, share life-changing principles and become a better writer. Instead of putting my supplies in a closet for 20 years, I now use our family life adventures as food for thought, helping others springboard to their learning along the way. So this week I invite you to rekindle a former hobby or discover a new passion just for fun, and see where your positive passion takes you!”
[We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Life is Too Short for Sensible Shoes, only 