I was thinking about this because I was asked, “What is your passion” and said “I don’t have just one, I have many.” The person who was asking this question responded “so it sounds like you are just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, but really what is your passion?”
Again, I respond with “I have many and they change over time.” I like to explore life and the world around me and so often learning how to do something becomes a passion for a period of time or a lifelong pursuit. I’ve done this all my life; build a deck, learn to photograph, kayaking, video editing,, running, cycling, academic degrees, leading teams, teaching, skiing, gardening, nursing, writing and more. I have many passions.
I think that the broad question and statement of “What is your passion, or follow your passion” creates unnecessary pressure to fit into a bucket, a category, which people use to make sense of who you are. I feel that pressure, it’s real for me, the pressure.
Leadership is a passion, I mean after all I did get a PhD in Leadership, which I love taking about collaboration, communication, growth, development, management, professional trajectory, organizations, etc.
Nursing is a passion, it’s been over 20 years of being a nurse. If it wasn’t a passion I would have quit a long time ago. I do enjoy the variety of nursing, also from a practical matter it is recession and COVID proof. I will always have a job tomorrow if I want one. So a shout out to nursing!
Writing and storytelling, when I do it is one of my passions, I like sharing ideas that I read about, translating complex ideas into digestible, understandable script that people enjoy reading.
Outdoor activities, anything outside feeds my soul, yes hobbies, but also it’s more than that. Nature and the natural world around me makes me happy and serves as inspiration for other passions.
Photography is one of my passions, it’s actually a pretty big passion of mine. If I could figure out how to make a living at it, I would do more of it. Anyone have any ideas? None the less here is one of my favorite photos from the winter. Dave is a ski instructor he taught me a lot, and we became friends. Photography is a passion.
My opinion is that, if you have many passions that is awesome, if you have a few or one then that is awesome as well. Explore, grow and learn, it’s all about passion right!
In closing…Yep….one of my passions is a passion about learning and exploring new ideas and things that then become a passion. Is a passion loop!