One of my favourite writers is Thomas Moore, of Care of the Soul fame. He writes about living passionately and soulfully, about living life as a poetic act. I like the feeling that gives me, it turns the project of life into a more liberating and creative act that fills me with enthusiasm for the future, rather than luke-warm interest, or worse, no interest at all. The importance of living authentically, in tune with one's strengths, values and purpose, cannot be overstated.
We need to define success for ourselves, rather than be towed mindlessly along by societal definitions which often serve questionable ends. Imagination is important here, we need to have a vision, we need to know a little of what we are about and what we might be capable of. Most of all we need to know what turns us on vs. what makes us feel like throwing in the towel--something about the nature of our passion.
Locating passion is not as difficult as it might seem at first, but you have to listen closely. What are we listening for? We are listening for our heartfelt responses to all the activities we expose ourselves to on a daily basis--the way our heart beats a little faster when we hear a piece of music resonant with something in our soul, or the way our mood shifts when we detect a scent evocative of a special moment in our lives.
It is often from this place that a joy for living is discovered that may take us in unexpected, but rewarding directions. Inspiration can also be found in books, films, magazines and in the lives of other passionate people. Living from a base of passion requires more than just self-knowledge and inspiration, however, it also requires support.
If we want to live passionately and creatively we need to cultivate our surroundings carefully. It is imperative that we connect with people who are living with enthusiasm and personal integrity, people who are dedicated to 'taking the road less travelled'.
Living with originality and purpose requires that we locate people of like mind who can help inspire, motivate and keep us on track. There is little room for nay sayers here, if we want to succeed we need to be clear about what success means to us, so it is wise to limit exposure to people whose vision of life is stained with negativity or whose view of us is small, narrow and compromising.
We need to expose ourselves to people, places and experiences which resonate with our soul's deepest longing. In short, in order to cultivate the best in ourselves, we must expose ourselves to the best.
The hard part comes in acting on our passion's dictates. This requires a willingness to be vulnerable, to make a mistake, or to be found in error. I don't think this is so bad in the end, but hypothetically it has the power to immobilize us. Take heart.
Remember, a mistake is good information in the end that we can use to revise a course of action, or move in a different direction. In a way there are no real mistakes, only a failure to utilize experiences of all varieties to positive effect.
Passion is the vitality of life, it is what keeps everything going and I believe we have no bigger responsibility to ourselves than to maintain a lifelong connection with this elixir of poetic possibilities.
