Grumblebee on passion

September 5, 2008 2:30 AM

Sidebar request - grumblebee on finding your passion

This answer is superb, and would be brilliant on the sidebar. We get a whole lot of 'what should I do with my life' questions on the Green (some of which I've posted in oblique form myself), and this is a beautifully put assessment of the importance of passion, compromise, categorisation and examination of motives. Well done Grumblebee.

posted by Happy Dave to MetaFilter-related at 2:30 AM (8 comments total)

I second this- it's a wonderful exposition on passion.
posted by pjern at 3:29 AM on September 5, 2008

Great comment, that I wouldn't have seen without this post. So thanks.
posted by MrMustard at 4:20 AM on September 5, 2008

Done and done. We usually like private email nods or fantastic flags or lots of favorites for stuff like this, so the sidebar mention can still be a surprise discovery mechanism (but more readers via metatalk is always nice).
posted by mathowie at 5:06 AM on September 5, 2008

Thanks, all! After posting, I realized that there's something missing from my definition of passions:

A like becomes a passion when it repeats with regularity. ... If it repeats with great rapidity (and if the urge is very strong), then it's an obsession. (I can't keep my hands off my iPod. I think about it all the time. If I lose it, I panic.)

In the thread, velvet winter said...

Along the way, I learned a thing or two about how to differentiate between authentic passions (which usually give rise to spontaneous feelings of joy and deep satisfaction, even when the task at hand seems tough or tedious) and fleeting whims/unhealthy addictive urges (which usually leave me feeling aimless, empty, or unfulfilled, even when the activity is extremely pleasurable).

I think this is the missing piece. Sometimes "addiction" is just an exterior label. Someone else might say I have a "theatre addiction," but I don't care. Theatre is part of me, and you can call my attachment to it what you will. But there are those activities that -- after you do them -- leave you feeling empty (and maybe a bit dirty), such as watching hours and hours of mindless TV. Even though they might fit my original definition, I wouldn't call them passions.
posted by grumblebee at 5:57 AM on September 5, 2008

Terrific comment, grumblebee. Thank you. And thanks for the callout here, and the sidebar.
posted by rtha at 6:17 AM on September 5, 2008

I love grumblebee when he talks about theatre.
posted by ersatz at 6:47 AM on September 5, 2008

He's a swell guy.
posted by Evangeline at 7:15 AM on September 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thank you for the mention, grumblebee, and for your original comment as well. Much appreciated!
posted by velvet winter at 4:44 PM on September 6, 2008