What moves you, shakes you, angers you; cruelty to children, cruelty to animals, poverty, education, politics?
I believe we all have at least one passion which stirs up inside of us. As far back as we can remember, we have felt pulled to this cause and are willing to state this in the presence of just about anyone.
Passion pushes us to move and to take action. It may mean standing alone at times but we are willing to do this. The cause means more to us than the way in which we are perceived by friends and family.
I have a number of passions, the main being;
1. Injustice – I struggle with people being mistreated and with anything which appears to be underhand or unfair.
2. Cruelty to children – I recall the first time I watched the NSPCC advert with Kate Bush’s song, “This Woman’s Work” playing in the background. This had a major impact on me and opened my eyes up to the fact that children are being mentally, emotionally, physically and sexually abused all over the world.
3. Poverty – seeing or hearing of people going without the necessities of life affects me. A warm, clean home with food on the table and clothes on our back is something many of us take for granted.
4. The environment – I have little time for inconsiderate people who allow their dogs to foul on public walk ways, who spit and drop litter on the streets. It creates an unhygienic, sometimes dangerous and grim environment.
I look at protestors who are even willing to die for their cause. They do not fear death at all. Their focus is on making a point, making a statement whether political or otherwise. You may argue that some have been brainwashed and perhaps they have to a certain extent. However, in their eyes they are standing firm in what they believe.
Passion can make us rather shortsighted therefore we need to use wisdom, acknowledging that it will not always be well received by others. There is a time and place and we must know when to move and when to stay still.
What are you passionate about?
How far are you willing to go to fight your cause?
organisedlady 
You cover a lot of ground in this post, so let me limit myself to a single point and say that I’m with you on the blight of littering. For many years I lived in New Orleans, a city of hardcore litterbugs: it almost got to the point that I would think “That person’s a tourist” whenever I saw someone throw something into a rubbish bin. FYI: In Singapore, courts can require litterers to clean public areas for up to 12 hours – all countries should do this!
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Andy – I have heard Singapore is spotless. I agree that the same rule should be adopted all over the world. People litter because they are considerate and know there will no concequences.
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Phoenicia, I am passionate about helping to transform world consciousness. If we’re going to call ourselves human beings, it’s time to develop our humanity and recognize that we are ALL in this thing called life together. Racism, for instance, is one of the ugliest forces at work on our planet. People everywhere long to be seen and to be understood for their own true human selves, not for some label or projection that others want to foist upon them.
I don’t know that what I do is “fighting” for what I’m passionate about, but I think I know what you mean. What I do is write. I’ve written a book (“Dancing in the Heart of the Dragon”–a memoir, true personal story) and I have a website/blog I call “Bridge of Light.” Its purpose is to help us to connect with our own and each other’s humanity and about celebrating what makes life good and what can make it even better. When we do this, the world is certainly a friendlier place to be. It’s a lot more fun too. :-).
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I am encouraged by your comment Ramona. You have a real passion to change things in this world. Wrong thinking and wrong doing have become common practice.
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I’m passionate about a few things. Equality is one of those things. I know when to pick and choose my battles though.
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Jason – will things truly be equal in our lifetime? No harm in being one who influences policies to improve on this.
I agree that not every battles is ours to fight.
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That’s a very deep and thoughtful post, Phoenicia. I guess I’m passionate about tolerance for all sentient beings, to celebrate rather than condemn others for their differences, and to show compassion to others who walk this planet with us. I applaud your passions and your initiative in sharing with us!
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Thank you Krystyna- it always brings comfort to know others value my blog posts.
Welcome back!
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I’ve never been very political, but this looming election in the U.S. has made me very passionate about certain political issues. I think passion increases as the stakes increase. If you don’t have a lot at stake, you probably won’t have a lot of passion. Passion is definitely essential if you want to make any type of great contribution to the world and mankind.
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It is all up in the air in America at the moment. I hope people think long and hard about who they vote for.
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Fascinating subject Phoenicia. Like you and others I’m passionate about a few things, writing for example. But a few hot buttons are free speech (which people tend to interpret based on their biases), animal cruelty, caring for our veterans and homelessness. I love my work, these are areas where I invest my personal time as a volunteer and community activist.
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Interesting list Marquita. It must bring great fulfillment to be able to work in those areas of passion.
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I match your list, Phoenicia. There is another that will make me see red in an instant: prejudice. I just don’t get it. I grew up watching Star Trek and although that (relative) diversity didn’t exist in my life until I went to college, it still made so much sense to me. We’re all just people and there are so many more issues–your list!–for us to deal with than what we look like on the outside.
Very good post–happy to share.
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Prejudice is one of those touchy subjects. Most people have been prejudice at one point in their life (including me) but nobody likes to admit it.
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Am passionate about a lot of issues for instance, enabling refugees to learn Swedish and integrate into Swedish society. Am hence refreshing my Swedish grammar and fonetics at university. Believe me I’m not passionate about those subjects. English grammar is easy but Swedish is not because it’s basically nothing but exceptions. But taking those courses make it easier for me to enable refugees to pronounce the language correctly and avoid speaking pidgeon Swedish. It’s very difficult for them because they have to start voicing sounds they have never used before. Am actually able to show them how you use your tongue, lips, breathing and so forth to pronounce Swedish. That’s great but believe you me, I’m not passionate about grammar and fonetics.
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How thoughtful of you Caterina. You are willing to overcome a dislike for something in order to benefit the lives of those more vulnerable.
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Awesome, Catarina! 🙂
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Passion is something we should have, but like everything else, we must consider when to use it.
Some people I know are passionate about EVERYTHING. You must know which fights to fight, and which fights you should accept the outcome.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
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I totally agree William. Some fight where there is absolutely no need to. What a waste of energy!
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Phoenicia, I share your passions, especially any to do with children. However, whether I would be willing to die for any of my passions, I’m not sure. I’ve never really run across an actual hunger stricken child so am not sure how I would react. Something to think about.
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I too have never witnessed a hunger stricken child in the flesh. Seeing the articleS and advertisements makes it real enough for me.
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Good question Phoenicia. I am passionate about my writing. I also get passionate about issues around poverty and discrimination.
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Thank you Donna. As the saying goes (unsure by whom);
“If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything”.
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Above just about anything else, I have a passion for travel and what it teaches me. I also have a passion for animals, particularly cats and kittens. As a writer, I have passion for expressing my opinion!
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Doreen – I cannot believe I did not write travel as one of my points! I may not write blogs/journals about travel but my goodness I do enjoy it. From the weather to the food, to befriending the locals…….
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Phoenicia, my passion list would be just like yours: injustice (expecially in the judicial system when people are wrongly convicted), cruelty to children – and I would add cruelty to animals as well, poverty in supposedly “rich” countries in Europe and the Americas, and the environment being destroyed and polluted (air, water, and land) by giant corporations extracting oil, gas, coal, and metals while trying to cut corners in safety regulations. I am infuriated by men who fill our legislative halls and spend their time trying to control women’s bodies and refusing to require equal pay for equal work.
Thanks for your post!
Rin
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Dr Rin – yes we have the same passions. How great is that!
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Great post, Phoenicia, It’s a great question. I am passionate about helping small business owners succeed in their business.
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Thank you Sabrina. What a rewarding passion!
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