Any ideas on what this image is of? Hehe… hint, it has to do with something I love.
I don’t write nearly enough. Regardless of whether anyone reads what I write, I don’t write enough. Writing is a great way to organize one’s thoughts and hammer them out. It’s a great way to record those thoughts so that you can remember them and build on them.
Here’s an idea that I just realized more powerfully than I have ever before…
I’ve been dancing around different paths for the last several years with regards to schooling, careers, etc. There’s been a common element among the different directions I’ve considered, and that has been art and creativity. I can recall thinking years ago in some of my basic art classes (such as drawing – yes I’ve been in school forever, I make Tommy Boy look good, heh) that maybe I wasn’t creative enough to be an artist. I felt that perhaps I lacked the creative energy to truly succeed in a creative field.
Last fall I made a commitment to a specific direction as far as formal education goes (graphic design). I realized that a piece of paper didn’t dictate the path of my life, that it was only a jumping off point and that opportunities to learn and grow in different directions were limitless should I choose to shift gears in the future. This gave me more confidence in selecting just one direction to go, since I had interest in more than one.
Through the first few courses last fall I discovered that I had more talents and interests than I had supposed and that I really could do anything I set my mind to.
Now, to come back to my earlier supposed lack of creativity. The truth is that there is an abundance of creativity to be had. Here’s a principle or truth that I’ve learned recently. A couple weeks ago I heard it suggested that one should take a daily inventory of activities and take note of what activities gave you energy and which drained your energy to find ways to improve your life or to find things to focus on to increase your energy. The idea was that energy follows passion (the things you’re passionate about).
Interesting how much perspective impacts a person. Given the idea that energy follows passion and then reflecting on my own life, I discover what the truly powerful things in my life are. One of those things is creating (to be painfully general).
Last night I was working on an illustration for a class. Initially I was intimidated by the idea of illustrating as I’ve not focused on drawing in my studies. The topic I had to illustrate also wasn’t the most interesting to me. Nevertheless, it was a challenge for which a creative solution was required, and once I found an idea that I liked and got moving on it, the energy came. (interestingly, most of the enjoyment came from the process of solving the issue, not the issue itself). Whereas I had been really struggling through the day earlier due to lack of sleep, suddenly I was filled with energy and was having a blast illustrating and painting.
Then it hit me– energy was following passion. That passion was in creating and solving problems, and I quickly could identify several other instances where I felt such passion and energy– whether it was designing and coding a simple web page, staging and setting up a photograph, designing a cd booklet, creating a poster or brochure using typography, or even just writing and expressing ideas or emotions or pondering truth and philosophy. There are all sorts of sources from which I draw energy. The point is that a major one for me is being creative, which for me really means tackling a problem or challenge and not taking too casual of an approach to it.
Here’s the trick as to why I might have thought I lacked creative energy: being creative requires motivation and sustained effort. The way my brain has been programmed over the years is to look for the solution with the least amount of effort involved to achieve something. For example, I always had a feel for what the bare minimum I had to do in high school was to get an “A” in a class. You may think that an A is a high standard to be lazy at achieving, but it’s true– I typically did the bare minimum. Why do more? Obviously my motivation wasn’t proper, I valued the “A” and not the education or growth.
They say that things worth doing are often difficult or hard. I submit that “easy” and “difficult” are only perspectives, parts of a mindset, a way that our brains have been trained to view things because we’re lazy. I don’t know if either word is productive. I will say that anything worth doing does require effort, sometimes a lot of effort. Things worth doing might even require courage and faith to get started on and to follow through with. However, the payoffs for pursuing those paths and making those efforts are far greater than those gained by taking the easy road.
Consider the energy and excitement I felt tackling a simple illustration problem. Did I not enjoy that energy far more than anything passive I could have been doing like watching TV or movies? (Even then, TV and movies are only passive until you engage your mind and being looking for things to glean from them that have worth, supposing you’re watching something that does have worth to be found– but even then I ask if that’s the best use of that time). Did I not enjoy the energy that came from creating more than other things I might exert effort on but am not passionate about?
The answer of course is that yes, the energy that comes from expending effort on something you’re passionate about is one of the best feelings you can have and it’s also very productive. I thrive on following passion. So why is it so difficult to get into that mode of creating and exerting that effort in those areas I know have a positive impact on me? I think a lot of it just has to do with the way my brain has been programmed over the years, and I simply need to break that programming and reprogram it, to overcome the limits on our energy that society suggests we should have (perhaps because the world attempts to make appealing things that in reality have a negative impact on us? Hmmm). I should have had no energy at all last night to work on that project. But energy was abundant once I started working, it mattered not that I had only had 4 hours of sleep the night before.
I’m working even now to break that programming which prevents me from enjoying life more fully than I have in the past, and being more productive and happy than I have in the past. (The sad state of this blog is evidence of that lack– seen both in the content of this blog and its “bare minimum” “design”, if you can call it that).
So for others who have read this far, the questions remains, have you found things in your life that you are passionate about and are you pursuing them to the extent that they energize your life? Can you identify things in your life that give you a lot of energy? Things that deplete your energy?
Comments
14 responses to “energy follows passion”
The pic looks like orange soda – like, Fanta or Sunkist. But I didn’t know you had a thing for orange soda! 🙂 It doesn’t look like superhud… a fried egg, maybe?
I read your post, and have been thinking about it all day. What am I passionate about? What gives me energy? I didn’t really think anything did. But today, a friend at work gave me his English paper to read, and it was so full of spelling errors and grammar errors, I had to try HARD to refrain from pulling out a red pen and marking it up! Now, I don’t claim to be an English expert, but when someone gives me something to read for fun (not to mark, but just to read) and I want to mark it all up and fix it, that’s got to tell me something. Then I started thinking about the fact that I like to read – I always have to have something to read, anything from my People Magazines to mysteries to classics to scripture – and most people read at night before bed to make themselves tired – I stay up until all hours reading, even if I AM tired. Most people keep books or magazines in the bathroom to read while they ‘take care of business,’ so-to-speak, but I’m in there reading long after my business is complete, to the extent that some of my limbs fall asleep. (Sorry, too much info there.)
I think I know what I want to go back to school for! ENGLISH!
Let me first say–orange bang? Secondly, it’s good to realize what you are passionate about and go there. Life is too full of dull routine and “stuff” we have to do. Go for what makes you feel alive! Fun for me to read these comments!
That’s awesome, Mel. Keep thinking about your daily activities and what brings you energy and / or satisfaction. Consider what your hobbies are, your values, etc. 🙂 Also consider the things that take away from your energy. It can be crazy stuff realizing how each thing you do or think during the day affects you!
Soogie – Thanks for reading 😉 If I think about it, I think family history and genealogy are something you really enjoy and find satisfaction in, no? So fun to see you get excited about it 🙂
I am going to venture a guess at some kind of soft drink. As for passion: Yes, it has taken you a while to find passions. However, it hasn’t taken you forever. You aren’t that old, you have a lot of life left in you. My theory is that it takes a lifetime to find all of your passions. What may be your passion at 27 may not be your same passion at 80. And in some cases it shouldn’t be a life long passions, and in others we keep through the eternities. We are here on this earth to learn. Well, to fully realize our passions we have to ‘learn’ what they are and how to use them and a way to apply them to our lives now and forever.
As for my passions, things that give me energy: 1) My children. (They also DRAIN most of my energy, but I will get to that part later.) They are my life. They are the reason why I work. They are my joy. They are the cause of much sorrow. They are mine!! 2) My husband. There is nothing better then to sit on the beach with him and just ‘be.’ 3) My extended family. (Meaning my family outside of the Unit of Me, Matt and my kids). I love being with my Parents and siblings and cousins and serving the and interacting with them. I enjoy being a part of the whole scheme of a family. 4) My job (another source of great drain also, but again later. My ‘kids’ that I work with are people that I truley invest myself in. 5) My culture. I never am drained when I learn my Polynesian heratige and am able to teach my children or others about it.
Saying all of that, there are things I would like to explore to see if they could become passions. I yearn to go back to school. I see so many avenues I would like to wander through and possibly make passions. The biggest is something in the teaching/counseling field.
As for things that drain me of my energy:
1) My children/marriage. It is hard work and there are some days where the battle is long and I just get tired. They days that things just aren’t clicking with me and Matt, or the ones where my children aren’t listening. Ugh!
2) Working, it all has to do with exerting so much effort into a kid I work with and realizing that they don’t give a biscut. That is a sevier drain. 3) Self pity. I do it way too much and get myself in a funk and that ends up draining me of all energy to do anything. Then I defeat myself and my goals.
To that I say I need to FIND more passions and realize a way to balance it all. It doesn’t even sound easy, but I know it’s worth it, so that’s probably a good thing, eh?
Thanks, Mike, for giving me a minute to look inward. It’s always a good thing to do and usually I don’t do it, unless somebody turns me in that direction. I think it’s partly a ‘Mom’ thing. You are so busy looking out and making sure everybody else is taken care of that you litteraly forget about yourself. I sometimes feel like I’m trapped in a body that just goes through the routine so that I can take care of everybody else. This made me look AT ME and realize there is positive energy within me and that I need to take care of that energy too.
haven’t read the post yet.. but.. orange gatorade?
i’ve had a really hard time thinking of myself as an “artist”. now that i’m back in school, it’s unavoidable. i thought of the word “artist” as too glorified for self-reference. but, i decided over the summer that i would think of myself that way and try to think like an artist. surprisingly (is it surprising that it’s surprising?) it has removed the resistance between me and my passion – music. (also getting an ipod and listening to smashing pumpkins-siamese dream helped renew my passion) it’s funny-when i think of passion i think of a furious, score-throwing beethoven finding out that napoleon wasn’t the noble soul he thought he was. i have a temper, so i must be passionate.. anyway, i’m rambling. i really appreciated your observation about energy following passion. i’ve stared at blank paper so many times in frustration. then, out of nowhere the music just starts pouring out. hours later i realize i haven’t eaten or anything. then i show my teacher and i realize most of it was crap.. but that’s another issue: revision. hehe. but, yeah, energy with passion is wierd.. more powerful than mountain dew. kind of way i think speed would feel like.
mel,
sorry about my speling and grammer errors.
You are forgiven this once. Next time, I’m pulling out the red pen.
First, to answer the question of the image– it’s a little decieving I guess. It’s the oil / grease on the bottom of the styrofoam container that remains after I’ve removed the spicy grill pork from the to-go container 😉 Really, it was the only colorful picture on my camera and I had to do something 😉
Cassi –
You made some great points. There’s no reason to limit ourselves to a finite number of passions or interests.
I wouldn’t say it’s taken me super long to find my passions, I would only say that it’s taken myself a long time to accept them and pursue them. I’ve been interested in the direction I’m going since I was a teenager, I’ve kinda just been exploring. Interestingly, the degree is just a piece of paper– I plan on being much more educated than that piece of paper will ever reflect 🙂 I love the idea of always increasing your interests and passions, but I think a key is to follow those passions you both enjoy the most and can create the most value / do the most good with, even bless the lives of others with.
As far as drains on your energy… some of that is just that you are stretching yourself. It’s like working out, your muscles get fatigued after a good workout. Then you rest, and next time you come back you can be stronger if you really are focusing on growth. That’s what the challenges in our life are for– the help us grow 🙂 So while some of those things may feel draining, ultimately they’ll create more energy, don’t you think? And you’re right– balance is a key. Another way at looking at it is, does something you do increase your happiness or does it decrease your happiness?
Another cool thing about all the passions you listed is that they involve people. Kids, spouse, close relatives, extended family, the people you work with at work, and even the culture relates back to people who lived before. I believe the real worth in this life is found in people and relationships with them. You totally seem to get that. Afterall, we are not the ends of our passions– other people are the end that we seek to serve through them, and it’s through that we grow the most and gain the most happiness. If we were to only seek our own gratification we would become destructive and would fail to find happiness.
So, whether we need to find more passions at the moment or whether we need to look closely at the little things that inhibit our progress and let go of them. Things we think about ourselves or others. They say by small means to great things come to pass– the smallest things can totally be draining or making you less energetic or productive. Food you eat, things you watch on tv, conversations you have, feelings you choose to have towards people. Thanks for all your comments, cuz!
Josh-
I recall enjoying the posts you had written about music not too long ago on your theory blog. I realy think that being a composer is an artistic profession– it can be very expressive and / or creative. Heh, if you haven’t checked it out, stroll through the MOA before the Milton Glaser exhibit is gone– there’s a poster he did in there that says that “art is whatever” or something to that effect 😉
In any case, I’d think of you as a creative (artist kinda has connotations like you mentioned, like the person who creates art for it’s own sake and not because it brings any value into the world).
I’ve been listening to some interviews with some film composers recently and it’s fascinating, I’m really looking forward to hearing what you create.
Sad thing is, I was there when Mike took that picture, and I still didn’t get it.
Mike, you officially sound like an infomercial. Or a motivational speaker. Or a school counselor.
But while I’ve invested my time to read this far, I might as well weigh in. I am a writer, editor, and director of communications for a large company. It should then follow that writing is my passion. If I were to put it on those terms, I might agree. But I actually believe that a “passion” for something should really be finding something you’re good at, and using that to benefit others. I don’t edit because someone’s spelling or placement of commas offend me – I do so because it’s my place, my job, my expertise to help people express themselves well and intelligently. Do I love grammar? No. In fact, the Chicago Manual of Style is the bane of my existance. The fact of the matter is, grammar and writing come fairly naturally to me. Easier than chemistry, which I actually found fascinating, but trying to study it was like pounding my head against cement. So really, you might say that you should find your talents – then do something good with them.
But I also don’t think we have to run out and find things we’re passionate about. A lot of it is making the best of what you’ve got. Like on the mission, when I was sent to an area that missionaries considered to be a “punishment” area, yet I found myself having a devotion to that place and people that surprises me even still. Or when I was handed an undesirable task at work, yet somehow I found satisfaction in doing it well – and ultimately cared very much about the outcome.
And last, but not least, if you go back to school for an English degree, Mel, I’d be behind you 200 percent. Or maybe more.
I’m having problems deciding what I want to end up doing with my life as were you. Reading your post definately gave me a lot of insight into what I should really be focusing on in my studies and life in general. I’m not really sure what I’m passionate about. I’ll definately have to ponder on that.
I do agree that you should be a motivational speaker of some sort. You definately have been an inspiration to me. 🙂
Good points, Mar. Using your talents to make the world better or to serve others is really where the most satisfaction will come from using those talents. But I would take it a step beyond something “you’re good at” and say something that you can do well AND enjoy doing. For example, what I do right now for work– I’m really good at it. And I can do it with the intent to create value for others. But is it my passion? No.
I’d also say that there’s no reason to limit your passions or not to look for other passions in addition to what you have. Many people haven’t discovered all their talents. If I were to limit myself to graphic design, I wouldn’t be fully developing all my talents. For example, you work as a director of a communications department. Does that mean that you don’t have other talents that you haven’t discovered and begun developing? Or maybe there are things you do know about that you haven’t taken the effort to develop and find if they add energy to your life? I’d also ask if what you do, even if you feel some sense of duty in helping others express themselves, do you come home at the end of the day exhausted or do you come home energized from what you’ve spent your time doing? Do you look for the rewards to validate your service or is the satisfaction internal from doing what you do best, is that satisfaction detached from the actual results? I guess this kind of relates to “purpose” and that’s a whole other topic for another post 😉
To keep asking questions, is the epxression of those talents of yours in english / communication at the office the end? I think about the illustrators I know. There’s one that says they’d never pick up a pencil again if they didn’t work here. They’re good at what they do, really talented, but not passionate. There are others, however, that go home and continue to work in those areas of talent and interest, it’s not something they just do at the office. So, here’s the bombshell: would you still be doing what you’re doing if you didn’t get paid to do so and didn’t need money?
Amen Mike. I agree whole heartedly. And have been going through some of the same process, but you knew that. 🙂
I struggled for the longest time to even refer to myself a photographer (to my clients even) and wasted just as long trying to find ambition for more (what seemed to be) practical pursuits. Now, I have never been more tired, or motivated, or excited. It’s rather liberating to pursue that which you are passionate about, and you have expressed that feeling so well here.
I am a creatively driven person, and ignoring that just made life drab.
looks like beer. you and your alkeyhol. sinner.