How to Be Passionate

by
Christine Kane

Stay Passionate

I have found that it is difficult to stay passionate in this busy world. Our attention changes so frequently that we forget what it is like to focus in on one thing at a time. We forget what it is like to really love what we are doing at the moment, with a single minded attention. We forget how to be passionate.

As a writer, I get burnt out. I have to write about this over here and that over there and research thins topic and find out information and quotes about that one. I just get sick of thinking. I get sick of coming up with new ideas all the time, or regurgitating the old ones in creative ways. I just fry.

That is when I know it is time to take a break. I need a vacation. I need to center and get back to myself. When I am writing not because I am passionate but because I have to, my writing is going to suffer – guaranteed.

But how can you regain your passion? How can you get passion in the first place? Isn’t it something you just fall into or are born with? Well, no, not really. I think of passion like I think of love. True love.

How to Be Passionate

Cultivate passion.

1. Passion is a choice – Like love, passion is not something you fall into. Yes, you can lust and you can be attracted to a person, just like you can be attracted to certain topics. But to really be ‘in love’ requires that a choice be made. A choice to move beyond “this feels good” to “I will work to make this always feel good”.
2. Passion requires concentration – Like love, passion requires your attention. Passion will run at the slightest opportunity. It will flutter away the moment you take your eyes off it. Like a lover left alone too long, the passion will flee if left unattended or ignored. Do not get caught up in the distractions of life, the other topics you may be ‘attracted’ to, and forget your love.
3. Passion requires feeding – Not only do you have to give your passion your regular attention, but you also have to feed it. You have to add more knowledge, growing deeper every day in your topic. Like a lover, you must learn more about them daily. See what they are thinking and feeling, and find out their needs and desires. Only then will the passion stay.
4. Passion needs a break – This all sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Well, it is. That is why, sometimes passion needs a break. Like a night out with friends, passion can handle some time apart, as long as it is limited. That does not mean you get to cheat on passion. No finding any other topics while you are away, okay? But you do get to give your body and brain a break and come back refreshed.
5. Passion changes – Last but not least, passion changes. Like any relationship, nothing stays the same forever. Eventually you will focus on one area of your passion, becoming all the more involved in that. Other parts will fall away and be replaced. You passion can gradually change into something entirely different, and yet still the same. Like growing old with a mate, passion can change and be familiar, can get old and yet be no less loved.

Passion is universal. In love, in friendships, and in writing, passion is necessary to keep things vital and alive. Passionate work is the only work that will stay with you. It is the only work that you will ever really love. Others may not agree, but you know what you have written in passion is the best work you have ever done. Do not let go of that. Cling to passion and keep it lit. That is the way to keep your love for writing.

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Thank you, Christine! Great tips for keeping passion in writing and in life.

–ME “Liz” Strauss