Skip to main content

Passionately confused about my passion...

The thing I have struggled with the most since I was 21 is realising I don't have a singular passion. At 21 I met a charming Californian surfer who was travelling my fair country with a guitar and in his real life he was an aerospace engineer. I was bowled over by his passion. And it set me on a constant questioning of passion which haunts me today. It seems like such a simple question but to me it baffles me. 

Tipping myself over to make sense of myself
(and having the best time ever!)
See I love an endless amount of things. And in the notion of exploring this existential crisis I am having I want to explore them....so bear with me please. 

There is my sewing machine; something I love to have for practical indulgence, its useful, creative and makes me feel a sense of mechanical connection like I used to enjoy in my teenage years at the kitchen table (or on my side projects out in the garage with hammers and nails). My love of art and all things painted, architecture, photography, fashion, historical, musical, dance, theatre - hell anything that shows expression! I love Rugby or more specifically the All Blacks which I associate with my childhood, family and a sense of incredible national pride. I love running as it gives me a sense of freedom and exhaustion as much as I do trekking/hiking/tramping (depending on your lingo!). I love Travel - and why wouldn't you when it usually includes indulging all of the aforementioned in a different culture with the challenges of negotiating a new environment (which invariably is sunnier than home!) with a foreign culture and where I am the minority. I love being environmentally friendly - I'm not a fanatic but I live by the Tidy Kiwi mantra and understand that I have a lot to give back to the world to make up for my travel footprint. I love my compost bin! I've taken to the Free Tibet Movement by boycotting Chinese made goods where I can and listening to the Dalai Lama. I only eat sustainably sourced fish stocks and avoid palm oil. I enjoy buying British (and New Zealand) goods supporting the community. I love London for its energy and where there is something free to experience I will gladly roll up from the Royal Family or cheering on the weary marathon runners once a year. I love my family (this should have been first but they will forgive me if they ever read this as it is a brain storm not a list!) and my friends each of which nourish me with their enthusiasm and positive and unique outlook on life (I've spent some time moving away from the Negative Nellys over the years and am very grateful to have a supportive and loving family). I love writing this blog as it gives me a unique way to share my thoughts with friends and family and more often than not complete strangers from far flung countries who have singled out my blog or accidentally fallen on it (thank you!, feel free to comment so I know who you are ;o)). 

I've always thought you have to have one specific passion to pin yourself to so you can crusade that passion all the way to heaven. But I guess this post reminds me that just like at school when I always tried to do everything and be a master of none that I am being most authentic to myself when I vary myself with my passions. Be it books or running, clubbing or photography, music or baking, sewing or going green; exploring my world and all it has to offer.

After all everyday is a learning day and this I can now comprehend is my passion.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My My Myanmar

I have been touched, pinched, squeezed and had my back rubbed as I was sick. Myanmar is one phenomenal place which I have so much hope for. Hope for democracy, hope for development and hope for conservation, all in a gradual process without losing its authenticity. I have felt safe, with my large amounts of cash (remember no ATM’s so budgeting became a real past time of all travellers not just the “budget” ones) and in pilgrimaging crowds, in villages and on rickety hill top roads, travelling solo or in a crowd. Not once did I fear for my personal safety or that of my belongings. I had to stop myself on the first day from being so travel weary and closed. I had to trust. I had to open up and Myanmar may well have taught me one of my greatest lessons on my Big Adventure. captive in Myanmar There were moments of democratic desire, like an aged village monk carrying a bamboo log who stopped me to ask “Do you know Aung San?” to which I replied quietly knowing it was a very c...

Breath Taking Everest

I have always wanted to go to Everest Base Camp to see what the closest to the top of the world must be like. My big sister Fiona made it there some 14 years ago on her way to London. She had run into Ants (her old school friend and now my brother-in-law) in the streets of Kathmandu and later met Simon (her husband) after her trek in Chitwan National Park. She had also bought a painting of the beautiful Ama Dablam  (mother mountain for Mum) with Tengboche Monastery in the foreground and it sits pride of place in our family lounge. As a result Nepal and the Everest region screams family adventure to me.     After a couple of days in Kathmandu during a strike (the country is in massive flux as it does not have a constitution or a governing majority) I met Dustin and Elan near my hostel telling them I was keen to do the Everest Base Camp trek. I had been recommended the Anapurna circuit time and time again but with recent deaths due to slips and the coming m...

Is it just you?

Traveling solo lets you dwell on a few reasons it BRILLIANT and FRUSTRATING to Travel Solo. Every time I went out to eat I was asked " Is it just you? ". " it is especially me" was always my answer.When you travel every individual gets something different out of the experience. For me travelling alone allowed me to embrace all aspects of my personality from art galleries and history to walking for miles and taking photos of all things great and small. These highlights shaped my experience and might help with planning or understanding that travelling solo is a whirlwind. THE HARDEST PART IS THE FIRST STEP - when people ask me about travelling alone the hardest part I found was my first flight out of New Zealand 7 years ago. Sitting in the departure lounge, on my own, with all the people I love and home being behind a glass wall. I even called my sister and asked " is this what it really is all about?, hours of waiting around ". But then someone sat n...