Passion in action

(I wrote this a few weeks back, but have neglected posting it for reasons I can't give now. Trying to get it all out there for you all though...;) )


“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.”

T. Alan Armstrong


For me this sums up why I felt compelled to move halfway across the world to teach English. There was unanswered passion that was coaxing me out of my comfort zone and wouldn’t let me be content to sit by the wayside and watch as other people in this life did what I was only then able to dream of. While dreams are lovely things that can keep us goal oriented and working towards something, passion is what really lights those dreams on fire and gives us the opportunity to carry those dreams as a torch to show ourselves and if we’re lucky, others a new way for awhile. I know that I am talking maybe more than I should about dreams and such here, but they are the thoughts that I keep coming back to and referencing for so many answers to so many questions; Why am I here? Why Japan? Are you crazy? You must be running away from something, right?

These questions can all be answered with a simple connection to this dream of mine, but that dream only got me thinking it did not bring me here. It is passion which brought me here. If you know me or know anything about me you know that I come from great, passionate people and that I am also very attracted to those in this world with passion. It is what I believe moves us on, helps us to learn, gives us strength when life is hurling boulders at us and brings us the greatest, most pungent joy in life. It is with and through this passion that living feels the best, becomes the most rewarding and renews worn spirits. It is with passion that I want to live each day and encourage others to do so as well with a gentle and excited manner.

I pondered this passion while I was teaching today. It was one of my days where I get to sit idly by and just repeat words with my fantastic native tongue (!!) so I really can sit and think about whatever I want while I wait for my speaking prompt. I was looking at my students and then looking out the window to the vast mountainous ridges that cover most of the land here, until one reaches the sea of course, and wondering if my students have a hard time seeing beyond these trees and this ocean that surrounds us. Of course they do was my immediate thought, but do they really entertain these thoughts and realize that they can do whatever they want with their lives? Do they really understand that this life is theirs and that with a dream and some passion that they too can move halfway across the world to live that passion out? I’m not sure if they have gotten there yet, because I don’t really remember reaching that point in thinking until I was in college I think, but hopefully they are there already and that experiencing a very simple existence for all of their years has pushed that thinking for them. There are zero higher education opportunities for them on this island and so many of them must be questioning what life off of this island will be like, but how far off of this island are they dreaming? Is it innate to dream far beyond where one is planted or are only a special few given the blessing/curse of a mind that travels far beyond one’s immediate reach and happiness is always another time zone/country/ocean away? I hope that my students are dreaming this big, and if they aren’t I hope that something that we say or do when I interact with them will light that passion inside them. Even if it is to stay here in Naru and fish for the rest of their lives, I hope that I can at least help them to remember that it will be better done with a heart full of passion than a head full of regret. There is nothing more attractive to me in people I meet than passion that spills and oozes from someone’s heart and soul. Passion that leads us through walls and over oceans is always worth following. I can say with confidence that I have never met someone who was sorry that they followed the calling of their heart. So here I am; head, heart, dream and passion in tact. I can’t imagine being better off than this. I am not attempting greatness in this lifetime, nor do I desire to be famous or known to any great population of people, but what I do want is to pass on a zest for living, so that others may know the profound way that life can be lived when we add the element of passion.