Passion. A word often associated with intense emotions borne from the heart. Something deep within, that we need to convey to lovers- potential or otherwise. But passion isn’t just about carnal pleasure. Granted it’s an emotion associated with the heart, but it goes deeper than just the affiliation we have grown accustomed to.
Anyone can be passionate about a hobby, a job, their beliefs- be it political, religious or social. They will put their heart and soul into their chosen interest and goals, but to what cost? When does something you enjoy so much, become an obsession? The very thing that thrills you, that makes you happy or hellbent on winning, can insidiously culminate into an activity that has you so deeply immersed, everything else in your life comes second, not realising your world is passing you by.
I nearly fell into that trap myself, when I embarked on my writing journey. It had dawned on me that I would regularly forget to do things, such as not making dinner on time; resulting in cooking pasta nearly every day as a quick fix. I also found myself irritated by things that I would normally tolerate. However, the latter has been a silver lining; my tolerance for the irrelevant is nul and void and as such, I feel liberated. As for the pasta dishes, I’ve now upped my game and zhuzh them up (the fact that my younger kids cook shamed me to their elder sister may also have something to do with it…but I’ll gloss over that minor detail) AND I cook proper meals, aside from pasta. Winning!
Where was I? Ah yes, passion leading to obsession. So, my passion very nearly became an obsession, but I had the sense to reel it in and find a good work-life balance. Now, there’s people who don’t have that foresight or maybe, as they fall deeper into their compulsion, they become blinkered.There are those who become so entangled, that everything to do with their passion then becomes an obsession, resulting in losing their grip on reality. That reality comes in all forms. For example :- You can be so proud of your heritage, whereby everything you do, that you buy and talk about is to do with that culture, pushing opinions and facts upon others, so much so, it becomes all encompassing. When it crosses over to getting personal about other nationalities and causing offence, resulting in losing family members and friends, and yet you don’t see the wrong in it, then it’s become an obsession. There’s a fine line between these two powerful emotions.
People who are so passionate about their cause or beliefs inevitably become obsessed if nobody speaks up. There are folk who become so focused on personal bests, diets, self-image, global issues, conspiracy theories-the list is endless, that more often than not, a divide is created between those who don’t think the same way and the those who do. Naturally, the party who doesn’t see the other person’s view with as much enthusiasm, will detach themselves, whilst the other, forms bonds with likeminded people. Call it self-preservation, call it being accepting that nothing stays the same, call it what you like. I say it really is horses for courses. We all have ideals and opinions. The thing we must do however, is to respect this and move on, in the direction of your choice.
Take care, Eva x
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