Everyone should have an outlet for their passion, at least in some form. But a step back from even that is finding something to be passionate about.
As children we are passionate about seemingly every new thing, be it a new kitten/puppy, a new pair of pants, or the newest Lego box at the toy store. Life as a whole is a passion for us and nothing – or almost nothing – beats down that energy for experiencing all that we can.
As we mature in our life view, we begin to hone our passions and focus more energy on a few select items that give us joy, be it singing or sports or sketching or shopping… the list could go on for miles I’m certain. These passions begin to propel us forward on our life’s journey. They determine the path we take, the classes we excel at, the school we decide to attend, the friends we make and draw close to…. These passions mold who we are and how we react to life.
If we have no passion, that is to say that if we simply exist in our daily life, we have no motivation to excel. No desire to create. Nothing to live for.
Nothing to live for… Perhaps that is the biggest motivator behind my faith as a Christian? Jesus’ death on the cross gave me something to live for. His sacrifice for my spiritual freedom gave me a reason to live each morning to its fullest, because I now have hope for a future beyond the horizon. It is no longer marred with the hopelessness of a sin that cannot be wiped away…. but that’s another blog post.
Excuse the tangent.
Passions. Their importance is immeasurable, if for no other reason than to make our imaginations soar. So many of the wonderful things in history were made possible because of a person’s passion to discover, to succeed, to create, to live!
For me, it is a passion for my characters. Not necessarily the story itself, but the characters that are living that story. Their loves. Their hates. Their life adventure. That is what drives me forward. When a story hangs on that infernal writer’s block, it is the thought of the characters and the life that hangs in the balance which keeps dragging my mind back to the next sentence, the next event, the next chapter of their life. If I don’t at least keep the characters alive in my mind, I feel as if I have killed someone before they had the opportunity to teach me [and others] what it was their destiny to bestow.
In my 20+ years of writing I have met so many interesting characters! Many of them were a joy to hate. Still others were a joy to mold into the people they became at the end of the story. I think my favorite… favorite? What can I be thinking? I love/hate all of my characters with an equal passion. I might have a favorite story or three, but even that is a dangerous and difficult classification.
Okay, so my favorite villain turned hero is a young man from a SQUARE-ENIX video game. He was a villain in the game and I molded him into a reluctant hero. I even crafted him a feisty girl-friend, whom he later married. The story of these two was an adventure in passion itself, as this was the driving force behind these two characters. They taught me about discipline, control, passion, and living. They taught me about fear, also, and how to not be swayed by that. If anything, they taught me to use fear as a propulsion forward into the unknown.
An extremely relevant lesson, especially in the field of writing.
This is the passion we need to grip with both hands about something, anything that will teach us about the joys [and heartaches] of life. Something that will get us out into the world of people and learn about them… about us… about our faith… about God… about anything and everything that we ask questions about. As long as we are willing and ready to receive the adventure [and the struggle that comes with it], there is nothing that we can’t accomplish.
Believe me when I say God wishes us the best in our daily adventure with life. In fact, He comes along with us so that He can share our joys and our pains.
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