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amyable
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Through Jen I found this great (IMHO) post on passion and avoiding burnout.
I realized (and blogged about) the fact that I don't even know my passion.
What about you? Do you have a passion? Do you know what it is? Read Elizabeth Esther's post first - she touches on "wishing" something was a passion when it's really not. I'm so guilty of this. I have many "wishing passions" which just drain my energy, and no real passions.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about yourself!
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Stephanie_Q
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I'm feeling the same way...and so can only provide more food for thought, as I have been praying this Lent about God's will for me regarding homeschooling in particular, and how I am living my vocation in general. It is good to see how others way of thinking / writing about an issue that I'm praying about helps bring clarity.
Here is Jen's Crying because I can't follow God's will... post at Conversion Diary.
Here is a quote from St Francis de Sales, "Finding God's Will For You" (I don't have this book, but pulled this from a review on Amazon when I was looking for this book). "The enemy often tries to make us attempt and start many projects so that we will be overwhelmed with too many tasks, and therefore, achieve nothing and leave everything unfinished. Simetimes he even suggests the wish to undertake some excellent work that he forsees we will never accomplish. This is to distract us from the prosecution of some less excellent work that we would have easily completed. He does not care how many...beginnings we make, provided nothing is finished...But with Christians, it is not so much the beginning as the end that counts."
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Stephanie dh 6.01
dd 6.02, dd 8.03, ds 3.05, ds 12.06 at Catholic school.
dd 12.09 at home.
Baby boy due 10.13
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SeaStar
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amyable wrote:
Through Jen I found this great (IMHO) post on passion and avoiding burnout.
I realized (and blogged about) the fact that I don't even know my passion.
What about you? Do you have a passion? Do you know what it is? Read Elizabeth Esther's post first - she touches on "wishing" something was a passion when it's really not. I'm so guilty of this. I have many "wishing passions" which just drain my energy, and no real passions.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about yourself! |
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What a great post! And the one following... so much food for thought there.
They have made me sit down and think: what is my passion?
OK, then... what is *not* my passion... what are things that fall into the "UFO" (unfinished objects) category in my life?
I made a list:
1. Rubber stamping. Heaven knows I've collected enough of them, but the "have-to-use" ratio is pretty low.
2. Scrapbooking. Again- all the supplies are here (aren't they fun to shop for?) but have-to-use ratio tells me this is not my passion (though the supplies have come in so handy for many of our school projects) 
3. Gardening. I don't even have supplies for this. I wish it was a passion because it all sounds good- flowers, fresh air, a tidy lawn- but really I can't even pretend I'm going to do this.
4. Housework. Enough said.
5. Sewing. Falls under enjoyable hobby. I have quilted for years. I like to make things. But my button holes are still completely pathetic.
6. Photography. Another enjoyable hobby. I keep reading books on it, trying to improve, but words like "Iso/Asa" scare me. I still keep pointing and shooting. I get some really great photos... because if you take 1000 you will get a few good ones, right?
So all that leads me to the realization that my passion is (aside from my children)... sounds funny, but: stories. I love books. I love to read. But I'm not a book collector. I'm not a writer. I just love a good tale. I'm in it just for the stories.
Whew! Now maybe I can part with a few rubber stamps...
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JodieLyn
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hmmm.. there are some things that I like the result enough to accomplish.. I think gardening and housework falls in here.. I'm hardly perfect but I can get the necessary stuff done.
I don't even go near scrapbooking. My oldest daughter likes it and I send her to my sister who enjoys this as well 
Sewing, I love sewing.. but it gets pushed to the back burner way to much which includes unfinished projects. But when I can do it.. even if I'm rushing or pushing myself to get something needed made.. I do enjoy it. Probably not a passion but also not something I'd totally get rid of.
Cooking.. I like cooking.. and I'm often tempted to make something just because the kitchen is clean.. harder to be tempted to make somethign when it's not
My pantry.. I love having a well stocked pantry.. not sure if that can be a passion or not.. but it's part of what spurs me into gardening.. and canning.. though I do like the cooking/preparing part anyway.. but canning is doing a lot of the same thing.. which isn't necessarily fun.. but seeing it all in my pantry.. that is very satisfying.
Teaching, I would have to say this is definately a passion.. I do it all the time.. it's often my prefered method of handling things.
For instance I don't debate well.. I would be a poor evangelist.. except that I love to teach people.. so if someone asks me an honest question I'll tell them what I know, and I'll hunt up more info etc. And I let people know that I'm happy to try and help answer questions even while not claiming to be an expert. But I don't enjoy going head to head with someone answering point after point not because they care to learn but because they want to convince me they're right.. nope.. walk away from that one.
I will reword answers over and over and over to help someone understand.(and usually everyone else tires of that before I do.. including the person I'm trying to help  )
Reading books.. not so much writing except where I'm conversing with others.. like online. But definately reading books. I love the stories and the insights into how people act and react and feel in situations and I love learning about different things.. whatever interests me at the moment. Less so if someone else is directing me.. I can remember doing the minimal in school for research but if something caught my interest I could do the same type of work endlessly to find more information.
I think also, sometimes a single project can be something you care passionately about and will put lots of time and effort into it.. but won't necessarily be something you'd choose to do again.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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KerryK
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My passions are knitting, reading, learning and discussing new things. Not a single day goes by when I don't do each of these at least a tiny bit. The reading and learning is sometimes combined with my homeschooling of the kids, sometimes combined with writing my master's thesis. The knitting is all mine, and I find time for it every night. I guess you know it's a passion when you can find and make time for it.
On the other hand, my new sewing machine is mostly sitting unused. Partly because I don't know enough about sewing, but partly because I'd just rather use the tiny amount of free time I have knitting!
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Kerry
Mom to
Matthew (10)
Mary (6)
New baby Samuel 2/26/07!
and 9 angels in heaven
The Eyes of My Heart
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Vanna
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This is so weird because I was just reading a book about how to be a millionaire (lol) and it said to find your passion and figure out a way to work it into an income.
All I could come up with is my kids, my husband and oh yeah, buying stuff.
Umm...No one is going to pay me to love my kids and my husband...and buying stuff is definitely NOT going to make me millions. LOL
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Wife to K  Mommy to B (ds18) and G (ds8)
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Cay Gibson
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Lots of passions and they change and some escalate during the year: homeschooling, herbs, domestic arts, cooking, history,...
Oh, dear! the list is way too long.
I can so relate to this article. Thanks for sharing it, Amy.
I realized a long time ago that I'm a "hobby" learner...never staying on track with anything long enough to fine-tune it,  yet, passionately wanting to research it and learn about it.
That's why I'm a writer. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
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JodieLyn
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Vanna, just buying any stuff won't make you millions.. but there's people out there making decent money buying for others..
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JennGM
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Great topic, Amy
I think some passions have had to been shelved a bit due to changes in vocations over time.
My passions: Anything about our faith, especially the Liturgical Year; music, especially sacred music and organ and piano; needlecrafts, depending on various factors which one will take dominance (sewing, crochet, knitting, embroidery). Books, collecting and reading and learning. Sharing that learning with others, especially to children and through writing. Cooking I love, but I find I read more (another passion) about it than actually do it, with our limitations right now. Gardening, especially herbs.
I find it's not finding the passion, it's about turning off some of the urges so the pressing matters get done first. While some of the passions fulfill deep needs inside of me, sometimes I have to turn that off, because it can be self-centered.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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Carole N.
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I have had to think on this some. I have so many things that I am interested in. I love needlework. I know how to sew. I learned to crochet and knit, but never got very good at it. I like to craft. I have a fair collection of scrapbooking supplies. I love to garden and had a beautiful Marian garden and herb garden in the States. I love to cook and to learn about cooking. And believe it or not, I love curriculum planning and teaching my dc.
When we moved, I sold my crafting supplies and sewing machines (yes, I had three). I gave away a lot of fabric and patterns and cleared out all of the yarn I had collected. I kept my cross-stitching and brought my sewing basket as well as my knitting needles and crochet hook. A few crafting kits made there way into my school room. And all of my scrapbooking supplies.
And all of my pots and pans came over. I sold my appliances, so I am slowly replacing them. But I do think that I have a passion for cooking. I so enjoy going in the kitchen and making a wonderful meal for my family. We like to have fresh baked bread (and my first appliance was a bread machine). I love to turn on the cd player, make a nice meal, and then enjoy it with the family. My dd is also developing a love for cooking as well.
Inspired by Mary G. I decided recently that I need to develop another interest, so I bought First Knits. I want to learn and to teach my dd how to knit. I would also like to start cross-stitching again. I enjoyed it and only stopped when I had children.
And then again it is spring, so that means curriculum planning will be tugging at my attention. Time to make decisions about next year.
Our garden is small, but I plan on having a hugh pot of herbs and a few flowers around the border. And someday, I may actually scrapbook with all of the supplies my dh has purchased for me. And I don't think I will ever be a seamstress because I always run into problems using the sewing machine. I start on a project, then have to struggle with the tension or some other aspect of the machine (I think Elizabeth was writing along the same lines...I thought she was peeking over my shoulder)!
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Carole ... in Wales
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JennGM
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Carole, I often think that you had such a great opportunity for soul-searching having to move out the country. You had to purge and let go, and in doing that really hone in your passions, if you hadn't figured them out. Always hearing about your meals there's no doubt in my mind that cooking is a passion for you.
Wish I could have had one of those sewing machines. That's a passion that I had to put aside, since mine doesn't work. A new one isn't in the budget right now. 
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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JuliaT
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It's funny that you should post about this now. For the last year I have been having an identity crisis of sorts. There wasn't anything in my life that was just mine or that gave me pure joy (other than God, my husband and my children. I am talking about interests, though) Before I was married, singing was my passion but now that I have children, it just isn't feasible to do this anymore.
I have felt at loose ends trying to find my passion. I tried to do things that I felt like I should enjoy doing like gardening (I hate gardening and I am horrible at it,) and scrapbooking. These things were draining. They did not fill me up.
Then in Jan. I was musing about our learning time and how unfulfilling it was for me and the kids. The short story is that we started doing unit studies. We kind of fell into it by accident but I quickly realized that this was working for my kids. I started putting together other unit studies and this was when I found my passion!
I love putting together our unit studies. I do not use curriculum. I use library books, the internet and my creativity. It is a lot of work but I love doing it! It fills me up! We are doing a unit on the rainforest and we made our living room wall into a rainforest. I had so much fun putting that together and the kids love doing it, too. I have discovered that teaching is my passion when I am able to teach the way that reaches my kids.
Blessings,
Julia, who no longer has an identity crisis
mom of 3 (9,8,6)
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Carole N.
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Jenn, I would have gladly given you one! I parted with so much "stuff" (what my dc call my junk). But I am managing to collect some over here as well!
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Carole ... in Wales
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Stephanie_Q
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JodieLyn wrote:
My pantry.. I love having a well stocked pantry.. not sure if that can be a passion or not.. but it's part of what spurs me into gardening.. and canning.. though I do like the cooking/preparing part anyway.. but canning is doing a lot of the same thing.. which isn't necessarily fun.. but seeing it all in my pantry.. that is very satisfying.
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I talked with my husband about this yesterday and how we should be passionate about our vocations. I've seen that in many of these comments - that you all love being homeschooling mothers and are passionate about teaching your children, and I'm recognizing that doesn't mean it's not hard, it just means that you embrace the inherent difficulties - the crosses - with love. So, if you define passion as embracing your cross with love - as Christ did in His Passion, then your pantry can be a passion!
Our shared "passion" is 'homesteading'. We love living in the country, gardening, canning and freezing produce - raising or hunting/fishing meat (I leave the hunting and fishing to him). The thought of living in town - and especially a city - is stifling to us. Talking to my mom has helped me recognize that I was always passionate about the life sciences and that is why we live in the country with small livestock and a huge garden. She's a city dweller who has a hard time understanding why I left the city and a career to be a stay-at-home mom in the country. I have had a hard time explaining it because I'm not passionate about other "domestic" things like cooking, baking, cleaning...and especially sewing. Right now, those are crosses that I'm dragging along and that is hindering me from living my vocation joyfully. I need to embrace the necessary ones (cooking and cleaning - learning to sew/knit/crochet is at the bottom of my list of necessary skills) so that I can say I am passionate about being a wife & mother!
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Stephaniedh 6.01
dd 6.02, dd 8.03, ds 3.05, ds 12.06 at Catholic school.
dd 12.09 at home.
Baby boy due 10.13
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SusanJ
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This thread has provoked a lot of thought on my part--though I'm not able to articulate yet most of what is rattling around in my brain. But Stephanie's post made me realize what is probably pretty high on the "passion" list--partly because it is also a shared passion with my husband. I think ours is probably urban community--the opposite of Stephanie's! We love studying urban policy, we love living in urban neighborhoods. Our favorite way to spend a day is driving around a neighborhood or city that is new to us and exploring and thinking about what seems to be working or not and why. We love thinking about small businesses and how they interact with and foster community. In our less-sane moments we dream of having a small business that our family could run as part of the kids' education.
I've been trying to think about this question, "What is your passion?" and wondering how to discern the difference between an important hobby and a passion. I don't quite feel comfortable calling something a "passion" if it can be too narrowly defined. I wouldn't want to say, for example, that baking is my passion (though I do have a cookbook called A Passion for Baking but I like saying that urban community is a passion because it seems to touch on and encompass so many different areas of my vocation.
Dh and I have individual passions, too, but I'm still trying to figure out how to define it--right now I can only think of the "symptoms" of my individual passion rather than the bigger idea that spawns the individual interests and pursuits.
This has been a really useful thought exercise for me. I think it can really be so helpful to think through this in a hard way. I think homeschooling moms can get pretty wrapped up in ideas of what they "should" be passionate about and that is what often leads to burn out. If we focus on our passions and the duties of our vocation (not necessarily in that order) or, better, find a way for the two to support one another I think we'd all be a lot happier.
Great thread!
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Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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Kyra
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Reading and making things. I need to do both. My passions are steady and necessary to my emotional stability (what there is of it ), but what I read and what I make are fluid, and rotate. I cook, sew, do beadwork and chainmail jewelry, bake, have done spinning and weaving and dyeing. I read mostly theology, cookbooks, science fiction and fantasy, and classics. I love books. I need to read something- even just a few pages- every day.
Part of the passion for cooking comes from my passion for caring for my family- it's an obvious, material, and satisfying way to express love. I wish that stretched into a passion for doing the dishes and scrubbing the kitchen afterward, but I guess the cleanup is a good way to serve by doing something I really don't like!
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guitarnan
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Some of my passions have been with me forever. Reading tons of books and playing my guitar at Mass are so much a part of me that I can't imagine that anyone I know would describe me without stating that I do both of those things.
My other passions are cooking, writing and teaching. I love working with our co-op students, particularly the high schoolers. I loved being a substitute teacher. Most of my DRE hours were happy ones. I can easily envision myself teaching RE classes or Confirmation prep when my own kids are grown and gone.
A few years ago I figured out that I could make money writing. I'd dreamed of writing since childhood and never bothered to find out if I could do it for pay...silly me. Turns out I can pay for my daughter's Irish dance stuff this way and contribute to our family vacation fund as well. I can't support myself doing this (at least not while homeschooling, LOL!), but I can contribute. It felt good to have a separate "me" thing when I started all of this - my husband was the commanding officer of our base and I was really casting about for a way to reconnect with my true self. Tapping into my creativity in this way was wonderful. (Of course, I should have done this 24 years ago when I edited our Navy family newsletter at our first duty station...young moms, take heed!)
The cooking thing is part memory-driven, from our years overseas and visiting friends near and far, and part creative. I hated cooking as a young bride. Living in Italy and having a huge group of single sailor/airman friends changed my attitude. These young guys were starving. I had to learn to cook! 23 years after meeting some of these young guys, I am still cooking for them and for all of our other friends and family. My husband and daughter love to cook, too, so it's now a family affair. We watch Food Network (we ate at the Mad Greek Diner recently because dd saw it on Guy Fieri's show). We bake and grill. We check out cookbooks from the library. We visit international grocery stores. ("Mom! Jellyfish heads!") Cooking is a way to be with family and friends, remember all the places we've visited (jaegerschnitzel was our dinner tonight), share with single friends and save money, all at the same time. No wonder I love it so...
My part time passion is genealogy. I have always been fascinated by family history and have been fortunate in most of my research. This is another thing I expect to spend more time on after my daughter leaves for college in seven years (sob). I've been fortunate in my research (on my side), which is great.
My religious passion is saints. I love reading about saints' lives and I've been blessed with the opportunity to visit the shrines of many of my favorites. (I still need to get to Fatima and Lourdes...) I own many books about saints and read them often.
My daughter is very creative, and so I hope as she matures we will have more time to spend on knitting, sewing and similar pursuits, especially after my son starts college (more sobs).
This is a great thread!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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monique
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hmmm.. passions....
Dancing. I've always loved but put it aside soon after getting married. Someday when the kids are older I will find a class and I will love it again. I enjoy movement in general. I love walking.
I love mothers and babies. I love talking about birth and breastfeeding. Maybe someday something will come from this but time will tell and God will lead me to it if I'm suppose to continue this work.
My computer and books. I enjoy them. I'm taking an indexing class and am hoping to use my computer and reading books to make us some extra money.
But right now I know I'm suppose to be home with my children and educating them. It would break my heart to be apart from them. So I pray every day to have the patience to do what I know I'm suppose to be doing.
Great thread!
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Monique
mom to 5
Raising Saints
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lapazfarm
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I read the article and all of the wonderful responses here and thought about this for awhile.
At first I thought maybe I am doing something wrong. There are SO MANY things I LOVE to do.Which one is my passion? Are they just hobbies? Perhaps I need to weed them out to find my passion. But what do I let go of? Which part of me needs to go? Something doesn't sit right with me about that.
But then I think... my passion is just "life".
All I want is for my kids and I to live life as fully as we can. To learn, to try, to experience, to taste, to see, to create, and to love as much as we can. To get as much out of our lives as possible and to give as much as we get. That is my passion.
Of course, knowing our passion and actually living it are often two different things, aren't they?
Sure, there are many people who would call our lives quite ordinary. Lots of things get in the way (lack of money, etc)of that passion for life. But I try hard to make sure I don't get in my own way, you know, by placing unnecessary obstacles in my own path. And day by day I find myself more able to say yes to that voice that urges me to follow my passion.I'm not totally there yet. But I am on my way.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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aussieannie
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Having a passion is a good balance to the day to day of schooling and running a household, which are also a passion but one that is more self sacrificial.
My passions are chanting Gregorian Chant in a Schola. Also herbs and the study of herbs are my passion, one that I use to help myself to be a healthier mum and to help build up the health of dh and children, so a very practical passion! At present I'm reading, reading, reading and making many tinctures in preparation for our winter.
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Under Her Starry Mantle
Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: What is your passion? Do you know it?
