pas·sion

ˈpaSHən/

noun

1.

strong and barely controllable emotion.

Many of the greats have attempted to define passion to show their drive, interest and obsession with something. The ever-quoted Steve Jobs said, "I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

This is the practice I have also adopted into my daily life which has helped me switch careers, change my lifestyle, and maintain happiness throughout it all.

It was only until recently that I had this idea of passion. It changed when I was in Texas visiting friends and family for a week. I was staying with some friends when I noticed their 10-year-old daughter, Anvi, working on something on the floor. Her brow was furrowed as she led the colored pencil across the large construction paper. I asked her what she was writing and, without looking up, she answered, "fancy words." I let her continue until it was done. At that point she approached me to show off the finished piece. Her calligraphy spelled out the word 'awesome' in swirling, purple font. I smiled to myself and asked her how she felt about seeing her art when it was all finished. I have interacted with many children and assumed she would answer like the rest of them had with a simple, 'happy' or 'proud'. Allas, my anecdotal evidence proved me wrong because she smiled back at me and responded, "I feel like doing more!" She left me in my puzzlement to go create more "fancy words". I liked that response. I am passionate, therefore I feel like doing more.

Could I say that passion is, simply, doing more? I thought about this definition in other contexts: if I am passionate about my job, does that mean I want to do it more? Yes…. If I am passionate about being a father, does that mean I want to work hard everyday to be a great dad? Absolutely! I grew very fond of this new concept, of passion being a verb and a noun. I thank Anvi for this new definition of passion….

pas·sion

ˈpaSHən/

verb

1.

Feeling the need to do something more.

