Week 4: Passion

May 1, 2012 by The Alternate Economy

What is Passion?

Core Essay on Passion

Passion is often confused with true Love. But I maintain they are different things. Passion is in fact a form of Love, not the be all and end all of Love. Passions arise when we feel a certain connection to the object of our Love. They are cultivated when we allow ourselves an honest appraisal of our new Love. And they become reality when we allow ourselves to become immersed in them.

But Passion is a slippery slope. It can often lead to imbalances, rather than bringing balance. This generally happens when we refuse to see the truth behind our passion. Nothing is perfect and neither is our passion. That does not make it less deserving of our Love. It in fact makes our passion more deserving of our Love. When we are able to live in balanced Passion, we begin to see that it is precisely because the object of our passion is not yet perfect that we Love it so much. We wish to add to it. To help it become perfect. And so it becomes our passion.

This Weeks Challenge

This week’s challenge for Passion will require that you take some time to sit and honestly ask yourself what your passions are and why you are passionate about those things. You will be asked to reminisce. To confront your past honestly. And to look to the future with a new awareness. Passion arrives when we allow ourselves the opportunity to become lost in the object of our Love. But we can still become lost with a sense of purpose. We can immerse ourselves in the truth of our passions. We can learn every facet there is to know about them. And then we can share our new found Love with everyone around us.

The following examples are suggestions only. Feel free to incorporate as many of them into your daily life as you are able to, or create your own examples of Passion.

Send Entries to awards@alternate-economy.com

The following challenge is split into three categories. Please complete each category and send an email with an essay describing how your week of Living in Passion has changed you. This essay can be anywhere from 500 to 1000 words and will become a post on this blog.

Honest Passion

Honest Passion is the ability to look at the object of your affection and know exactly why you Love this person or thing. It comes from an honest assessment of your passion and your relation to it. Often times we get caught up in Loving our Passions so much we forget to stop and ask ourselves why we Love them. By getting to know our relationship with our passion, we help to better get to know both ourselves and the object of our affection.

For this week, choose one person or activity that you are passionate about. Write a list of honest pros and cons about your relationship with this passion. With every con you find, try to rationalize why this con actually makes you Love your passion more. By getting to know your Passion truthfully, you can only bring yourself closer to it.

Exploratory Passion

A sense of Passion does not arrive on its own. There must be some willingness to explore on your part. For this week try to think of a thing you imagine you are passionate about but have never tried. Or pick something that you “used to be” Passionate about and rekindle your exploration of this Passion. Either way, make sure to leave the house and engage your passions this week. There is no better feeling than doing something you Love.

• Join a sports team, be it a fantasy league online or a real team with real people in the real outdoors.
• Take some lessons in a subject that has always fascinated you. You can sign up for a class, or even just go to the local college and audit the course for free. You will be surprised how a little knowledge on the matter can open doors for you.
• Set aside some quiet time to begin a new or old hobby. Try to get to know your Passion and remember why it is that you wanted your alone time in the first place.
• Introduce yourself to that one person. You know the one I mean. The one that makes you nervous every time you see them. The one that makes your throat dry and your mind suddenly blank. Go and talk to them. Just talk. No expectations. No plans for the future. Just introduce yourself and see what happens.

Shared Passion

I lied. There is one thing better than doing what you Love. It is doing what you Love with someone you Love. For this weeks challenge, try to set aside some time to include someone you Love in your Passions. Whether you decide to share the fruit of your Passions with them, or the knowledge which allowed you to create that fruit, it matters little. But do your best to include as many people in your Passions as possible and watch your Passion grow.

• Invite your friends over for a hobby night. Get each person to bring some info on their hobbies while you do the same for yours. Take the time to listen to what your friends are presenting. You may find that they share a hobby with you, or even better, that their hobby compliments yours somehow.
• Put on a performance for your local community. Get out there and shine. Whether your passion is poetry, acting, music or even activism, bring your show to your neighbours. They want to see it, trust me, so don’t deny them your talents.
• Spend the day producing your Passion and then gift the products to those you Love. If you knit, then knit. If you cook, go ahead and cook. If you dance, offer some lessons. Whatever it is you do, do it well and share it freely.
• Try one of your Lover’s Passions. Even if it is not one of your own, you would be amazed how just watching your Loved one get immersed in their Passion has a way of lifting your spirits.

Send Entries to awards@alternate-economy.com

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