Discovering My Passions

But I Don´t Know What My Passion Is!

Ten years ago, I was in Jesus Christ Superstar in at a local theater.  While trying to psychologically understand the characters, the director reflected, "Who takes 30 years to understand their passion?"

He was talking about Jesus, of course.  But I was ready to raise my hand.  I was knocking on 30´s door, and had no idea what exactly I was passionate about.  There were topics I was more interested in than others, of course.  But a driving passion?  Nope.

Maybe some people are just born knowing what they are passionate about, like Thom the Director.  Maybe some people have a pretty good idea, but are just waiting for the right moment (like Jesus, I´m guessing).  Then there are people like me, who feel like we´re muddling through life, vaguely interested in all kinds of things, but not on fire for any one subject in particular.

No worries.

Take one of those interests, and pursue it.

I´m in the process of pursuing a few interests.  And I´m discovering quite a lot about myself along the way.


Why Am I Doing This?

After another day of having "practice the flute" hanging over my head on my personal checklist, and stressing out all the while I wasn´t getting it done, I stopped to ask myself, "why am I doing this?"

I don´t really know.

Now, don´t get me wrong--back in January, I listed "getting better at the flute" as one of my New Year´s Resolutions.  Through a number of coincidences, I found a marvelous flute teacher, and I really am enjoying the process of improving my skills.  But, instead of simply dreaming of being better, this is the part where I drag out the blood, sweat, and tears and actually work on improving.  But why am I investing all this time, energy, and money?

I can´t really say.

I have no concrete goal.

But that may be a good thing.  Eight years ago today, I sat down at my computer and, on little more than a whim, and began this blog.  Over the last eight years, I´ve discovered that I really enjoy writing.

Then I found out that I really enjoy writing about Mexico.  In fact, I´ve come to the point that I joke about being evangelical about Mexico.  I say that jokingly, but I really do want others to appreciate Mexico the way I do.  Or, for those who may never appreciate Mexico, I like having a means to explain why I love living here.  

Furthermore, I´ve met some of my best friends through  this blog.

Thanks to this blog, I´ve helped a number of people transition to life in Mexico--which spurred another project, SaltilloExpats.

Thanks to this blog, I´ve submitted articles to other sites and magazines.  Some even pay me for it!

I´ve read that 85% of blogs sputter out.  This one is still going.  And, much like with my flute lessons, I´m not exactly sure why.

I didn´t start out with any goal in mind.

I just thought I´d enjoy it.

And I still do.

So here´s to another eight years!


At the End of the Day

Some projects sputter out, some we continue to work on.  Sometimes projects aren´t always fun, but soldier on!  (Trust me, I´m getting tired of playing endless variations of scales in the key of G--but I know it will pay off eventually.)

If, overall, the project is enjoyable, continue.  The farther we go down a path, the more avenues we´ll find to persue.  Who´s to say where any particular adventure could lead?

I never thought this blog would lead to much of anything practical.  But, thanks to this blog, I have started to organize meetups for the English-speaking foreigners in Saltillo.  Yesterday, twenty of us went to a baseball game together!  Sure, I´m not saving the world, but getting people together to explore unfamiliar surroundings (and to ward off loneliness) is good for all of us.

Who´s to say what else I may be doing, thanks to the influence of this goofy medium, in another few years?

The adventure is in the journey.

So keep at it, whatever your journey may be.

Still not sure what your passion is?  Start a project, any project.  Complete the project.  And see what other projects may grow from it.

To paraphrase Paw Patrol, "No project is too big (or for that matter, too small)!"

Passions don´t need to earn us money.  (Although that would be nice.)
Passions don´t need to excite anyone else.  (After eight years, my husband still doesn´t understand why I spend so much time on the computer.)
Passions don´t need to be easy--or even achievable.

They just need to be pursued.

So go chase that dream.
Or, in my case, run away with that whim!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Need Additional Food For Thought?

Ten years ago (when Thom the Director challenged me), I stumbled upon What Color Is Your Parachute?  It´s a step-by-step guide to help people consider about where their passions are.  While it didn´t give me any concrete goals to shoot for (like the career-changer it claims to be), it was an excellent starting point.

Interested?  Click on the picture to read more about it, or order your own copy!

Learning Geography

Today I overheard my five-year-old belting out, "I´ve got Hawaii!  I´ve got New Mexico!"

Yes, my kindergartener knows his states (well, some of them)--and he doesn´t even live in the United States!

Last summer, I was at a garage sale, and came across The Scrambled States of America card game.  It´s based on a children´s book of the same name.  (I haven´t read the book.)  But I picked up the card game, as I´ve been looking for a states puzzle for my daughter (who´s in second grade), so she could start to learn her US states, as she´s not going to be drilled on that in school here.

We played it last summer, and it was a hit.

Last summer, it was a little too difficult for Joey, who had just barely turned five.  But now that he´s almost got kindergarten under his belt (and therefore knows his letters, and can count, etc.), he´s able to play on his own much better, with minimal help from me.



How to play

Each player has a set of five state cards.  There´s a stack of question cards.  On each turn, a question card is turned over, and everyone has to find a state in their hand that starts with the letter N, or touches 5 other states, or is blue, or is the closest to Missouri.  (Each player gets a US map for reference.)

The first player to answer the question correctly gets to keep the card.  The person with the most cards in the end wins.

Now, normally, the second-grader wins by a pretty large margin.  However, there are some questions, like, "which state is blue?"  or "Which state is wearing something" that are easy for the not-quite-literate set to answer correctly.  Futhermore, the "which state is closer to [insert state name]" questions aren´t timed--the person who has the closest state wins, so slower players get a shot, too.

For younger kids, this could be frustrating.  (And it has been for my own little guy.)

But he keeps hanging in there.

And it´s paying off, because he knows the names of a number of US states, and is getting an idea of North, South, East and West, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans!  I´m pretty impressed.

I think I´ll have to make a Scrambled States of Mexico!

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Want a Scrambled States of America for your own?  Click on the picture of the game box shown above, and an additional browser window will open and connect to amazon.com.

Or, better yet, find an independent toy store or game store in your town, and if they don´t have it in stock, I bet they´d be happy to order it for you.  That way, your money stays in your community.

But if that´s not an option, I can hook you up here.