Passions

I know, I should have started with the explanation of my blog first but the bibliophile in me just couldn't wait to share with other Austenites that I was about to get stuck into another of Jane Austen's novels. I will therefore begin the explanation of what brought me to begin this blog now.

The American Chef Julia Child said of work “Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it". I agree with Child's mantra and think that it is even more important for how one chooses to spend their hours away from work. In this modern age the amount of time that we have to enjoy and indulge in our passions for the pure and unencumbered enjoyment of them, even if one's means of employment is their passion, is less than it was even a generation ago. I can quote from many medical and social research studies that show that people who take time to relax and take time to employ themselves in passions, or leisure activities that they enjoy tend to be healthier, happier and even more productive than those who do not. The important thing about taking the time to partake in one's passions is that one is partaking in them purely for the pleasure it brings to oneself, provided it is legal and does not harm anybody else.

For me three of my biggest passions are travelling, reading and music; hence, the title of the blog. In addition to, and sometimes as a result of these passions, I am able to indulge in other passions including: photography, writing, cooking and theatre, amongst others, which connect themselves nicely to the three large passions. This blog will be a journalising of my experiences in enjoying my passions. I never want to be the person on their deathbed who says that they wish that they had had taken the time to indulge in at least some of their passions. If one loves opera music and their partner would rather listen to the screeching of nails on a chalkboard I believe that one shouldn’t give up on their passion entirely. In the case of the opera-lover and the opera-hater the opera lover could rent a CD from the library and listen on headphones, or one could try if it is possible to see a live performance, whether armature or professional. If one loves to write poetry one needn’t feel that their prose, or verse, needs to impress others; often, the best poetry stems from the writer casting aside the perception that others will not approve. While my passions tend to the more artistic side the need to partake in one’s passions is true for the more athletically inclined as well. If one has a golf handicap that would have more numbers in it than are currently known to follow the decimal in PI one need not toss one’s clubs into the lake. If proficiency were a precedent to enjoyment of passions few people would have hobbies. Will you who golf and have PI length handicaps be the next Tiger Woods?, likely not, but you will be a happier person at the end of your days if you took yourself to the green every now and then. I therefore hope to encourage those of you who read my blog to follow your bliss!