Photo by Mama

A clear beautiful day here in farmland California. Mama took this. I had to share.

Mama: don’t confuse something you are good at doing or enjoy doing with passion. Passion is a compulsion. Compulsions come and go and that is why it is so important to cultivate discipline. Discipline and commitment are the legs of passion. My passion? I love and enjoy doing lots of things. I take pride in being a professional full time working person too. But that is not who I am. That is what I do. Women have had to work very hard to be able to financially support themselves on the same level as men. I take immense pride in being an independent woman.  But don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to be a man! I love being a woman! I enjoy nature. But my passion: I am relentlessly passionate about my children. I am compelled to participate in their development in a non-imposing manner. It’s a craft: to not be over-bearing, not use them for your own fulfillment, yet support who and what they become without attachment to personal agenda. It’s not easy. It’s an every day effort and a genuine interest.  I am still learning. And that’s what passion ultimately provides, this desire to continue learning. You want to keep learning more and more about whatever your ‘it’ is.

I know too many people who are passionate about  art or writing or photography or yoga or coaching or “this” or “so much” yet have no desire to really continue learning more about “it” unless someone can watch them learn. Most learning happens when no one is watching. Sometimes evolution is a big bang and other times a microscopic shift in perception.

Related posts:

His-story of Blue Photo of how I feel after I am ‘done’ writing “the work for which all other work is but preparation.” ~ Rilke “invisible activity”