Following Your Passion

Sitting in my office today, I was talking to my co-worker and fellow blogger (CitySkinnyLife) about the 30 Days of Indie Travel Project. We were talking about the blogging process, and I was telling her how it has allowed me to break out of my constant editing (and re-editing) and just create. The most interesting discovery? Finding out what resonates with people. Funny, it’s not the posts that mean the most to me, it’s often the ones I question as to whether they’re good.

Allie looked at me, smiled and said, “kill your darlings.”

The quote, which I instantly fell in love with (as evidenced by a previous post), was so spot on. Attributed to William Faulkner, it explains why the pieces we love the most are the ones we can’t be objective about and more often than not, don’t resonate with readers.

Just one more revelation, in this project/challenge that has reignited my passion for writing. So, it’s fitting that todays’ prompt touches on just that very subject…

Day 17: Passion

It’s easy to be passionate about travel, but does that passion permeate the rest of your life? Do you live and work with passion? Why or why not?

One of the benefits of travel is that it gives you time away from the daily grind. While you’re off exploring new worlds, you have time to reflect on the one left behind. The passion that travels infuses into your life on the road, gives you the perspective and clarity you need — something you don’t have when you’re in the thick of it.

When I think back to some of my major trips there is often a corresponding life-altering moment that came with it. For example, backpacking through Europe in 1998, mesmerized by the art and beauty of Florence, I came to the realization that I was still in love with my ex-boyfriend despite the tumultuous years we had spent together; a fact that was confirmed when he met me at the gate. Or, when I spent New Year’s Eve 2000/2001 in Edinburg, standing on Prince’s Street for Hogmanay. I felt more alive than I had in a long time, and it made me realize that my sales career and life in Boulder needed an overhaul. When I returned home, I vowed to make a change. I set my sights on graduate school, took the GRE and ended up moving to Boston.

These were two important moments in my life, where I decided complacency wouldn’t work anymore. I was tired of going through the motions and I wanted to live my life with intention. I believe you only get one go around in this life, and there is only one you. We each have our own unique gifts and talents, and it’s up to each of us to make the most of the time we have.

So whether I’m putting in 12+ hour days to get a PR campaign off the ground or supporting local environmental campaigns with my local Surfrider chapter, each day provides me with a new opportunity to, as Gandhi said, “be the change I want to see in the world.”