Have you found a good home for each of your passions? You may need more than one if you have more than one, and my guess is you probably do.
A Tale of Two Cats, Two Very Different Cats
We’re moving into a new place. More room. Less money. Need I say more?
The only trouble is we have two adopted cats and the new place won’t allow them. We need to find them a home, but they’re very different cats.
Folly is young and active. He likes to climb, chase, and scratch things.
Lucy is older and, well, let’s just say relaxed. She likes to sleep, eat, and sleep.
Folly is best suited for a home where he’ll have access to the outdoors. Lucy is best suited for a home where she can serve as warm, furry, purring decor. The best outcome may be to find each one their own tailor made household.
If you have two or more interests, they too might each need a place of their own, some place where they can each be free to do what they do best.
With that in mind, I’ve put together:
2 Questions to Help You Find Homes for All Your Passions
Question 1: What purpose does each one serve?
I no longer believe we each have a single purpose: I believe we have multiple ones.
My purpose for writing this blog is different from my purposes for writing poetry, playing guitar, and spending time with my family.
I write this blog to be a resource to anyone who wants to be more creative. I write poetry to express things in a way I can’t do otherwise. I play guitar because it’s fun and I like to have fun. I spend time with my family and friends because I want to love and be loved; it makes me feel rich.
Understanding that each one of these things serves a different purpose has allowed me to put them in perspective and decide where they belong.
You can do the same. Look at your passions one at a time and ask yourself, “What purpose does this serve?” Each one may be different. Let them be.
Question 2: Where will they be happiest and shine their brightest?
If you know what purpose a thing serves, you can ask yourself where it will best be able to do so.
This doesn’t only apply to varied interests such as sculpture versus underwater basket weaving. It also applies to varied forms.
I write every day, but I don’t always write the same kinds of things. I write this blog, I write poetry, and I engage in a fair bit of what you might call navel gazing.
I recently realized that all these various kinds of writing don’t necessarily belong in the same place.
Some people who read this blog love my poems; others, not so much. That’s okay. I just need to find a better home for them, some place where they’ll be freer and happier.
And not everyone wants to join me in looking at my belly button. I still need to do it, but, once again, I need to find a proper place for it.
That’s why I have a personal blog for navel gazing and why I just purchased a new domain for my poetry.
Of course, when I think a poem or a close up of my belly button (like this one) will inspire, educate, or illuminate something for you and the other readers of this blog, I’ll bring them in.
The real point of this, however, is that each of those things will be free to be the best they can be. This blog will be free to best serve you. My poems will be free to be whatever they need to be without concern for subject matter. And I’ll be free to bury my head in my belly button whenever I feel the need.
Take a look at each of your own passions and ask yourself: “Where will this passion be free to become its best, its brightest, and its happiest?” Once you have your answer, move your passions into their new homes and watch them thrive.
Home Sweet Home
Finding a proper home for each of your passions will add to your focus, productivity, and peace of mind.
And, by the way, welcome to your new sideline as a property manager.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
How interesting. As someone who has many many passions (also ranging from navel-gazing to painting to poetry to finding beauty in everything), I think this concept is probably very important. Perhaps I should start considering it.
Thanks for a great read.
Amanda´s last blog ..Hand marbled blank note cards – variety of 5
Thanks, Amanda. I’ve only just begun to understand this myself.
This really resonates for me – I love the idea of not having to bring everything under a single umbrella, to be able to express yourself in different arenas.
(And as the owner of a series of very different pets, the metaphor worked for me!)
Thanks
Joanna Maxwell´s last blog ..How to innovate your business model
Aren’t metaphors great? They just work. I believe in having a big bowl of them every morning.
I too, have lots of passions and interests. I continually have to stop myself from running off and trying to make careers out of them! I have spent a lot of my life wondering what is wrong with me. Why can’t I be like others and stick to one career, one profession?
A couple of years ago, I read a book by Barbara Sher called ‘Refuse to Choose’. She has coined the term ‘Scanners’ for people who love to do lots of things.
After reading this book, and realising that I wasn’t alone or abnormal, I don’t feel the need to run off and make a career out of everything, but I know that I can keep somethings as fun, indulgent hobbies…
Amanda´s last blog ..Ke Bali Lalu Lombok…
Yep, Amanda. Barbara’s the bomb and Refuse to Choose is a great book.
Someone once told me that if I didn’t have room for something in my house (like a particularly messy hobby), then I hadn’t made room for it in my life. I immediately went out and found studio space.
I can’t wait to visit your poetry studio!
Laurie Foley´s last blog ..B.Y.O.G. (Bring Your Own Giraffe)
I can’t wait to read Bring Your Own Giraffe. What the . . .?
Been thinking the same thing, but hadn’t quite figured out how to convey what I wanted to say. Nicely put.
Sandy Dempsey´s last blog ..Five Steps to Moving Outside of Your Comfort Zone
This really has me pondering my passions. I read this entry last night but didn’t respond b/c I needed more time to think it over. I think I need to make a visual, similiar to yours. And it leaves lots of unanswered questions. What do you do when your career is no longer your passion? Do you tolerate it so that you can pay the bills? What do you do when your passions don’t generate income? I know a lot of people would say “Find a way to make it generate income”, but that’s not completely realistic. My passions will never pay the mortgage.
Michele´s last blog ..Bringin’ Home the Bacon…
Why not start smaller? Why not begin with the idea of supplementing your income instead of completely replacing it? You just never know.
I love this. If our passions are reflections of ourselves, then we need places where we can let all of our selves shine. My singing self needs a place, my writing self needs a place, my mom self needs a place, my runner self needs a place, and these probably aren’t the same place! Long live the scanners!
Long may they scan.