When I set out to write this month's blog, knowing that the subject would be about PASSIONS, PASSION and what we're most PASSIONATE about, I found my brain going in all directions at once. Up to about nine months ago, I'd have said I was an expert on following passions, passion and what I'm passionate about--because I've sacrificed so much in order to allow my passion to become my dream. And my life.
There is such a thing as allowing your PASSION to overtake your life, and I'm here to warn people that being PASSIONATE can sometimes create unforeseen imbalances. Perhaps a better term would be, "unforeseen obsessions."
Instead of making friends, going to parties, meeting new people, and expanding my experiences, I wrote. I stopped participating in the happenings around me and became an observer. It would help my character development skills, I said. Observing people is so easy when you don't have to interact with them...
And then one day I started interacting again...
Never had I thought that actual, physical PASSION would get in the way of MY passion...
I, Courtney Leigh, romance novelist, lover of love, and aspiring author, fell in love with a guy who has real eyes, real hair and real (very overwhelmingly real) faults. So many, I'm not sure if love will be enough. But that particular is for another blog one day. I'll stay on point.
The emotions I've gone through in the journey of falling in love, have momentarily taken me away from MY passion. And frankly it sucks.
Because writing has always been so therapeutic, so beautiful and expressive and freeing for me.
For three years I stayed in a bubble full of my own creative energy. Things were great in that bubble, believe me. I think it's ironic that the writer who writes of love, has just been sideswiped and been momentarily derailed by it. Not only that.
I've relied so heavily on my PASSION to bring me joy for so long. Now that I want other things like friendships and relationships in my life, I'm having to adapt accordingly. There's just not enough time in the day.
Have you ever let your PASSION overtake your everyday life? Please share, and let me know I'm not the only one who has just realized how out of sync we/I can get sometimes!
2 comments:
No, Courtney, you are not alone in this!
I think moving from discovery of our passion to obsession to finding a balance is a natural progression many writers go through.
When I began to write seriously, I also spent nearly every waking moment, if not writing, then thinking about my stories. I had a job with a lot of 'down time.' In one year, I developed characters, plotted, and outlined several novels besides the one I worked on nearly every day.
Since then, I've come to value my non-writing time. I make an effort to be 'in the moment', not in my head, when I'm with others. Getting out of my writer's cave and interacting with real people keeps me from stagnating.
I still work during hair coloring appointments, in waiting rooms, etc., but not during dinner conversations or basketball games. I take a more zen approach to writing and to life.
Congratulations on falling in love! Sometimes love that lasts comes when you least expect it, with the person you least expect - that's what happened to me. Forty-one years later, we're still spooning.
The way I see it, true love is like writing - a happily-ever-after evolves from a couple with the right combination of love/passion/compassion/courage/COMMITMENT/forgiveness - and luck!
Enjoy your journey!
Hi Courtney,
Passion sends adrenaline surging, brightens all aspects of the world around me and gives me the highest highs! Having said that, I've also become sick from Passion because my life no longer had balance.
At this stage of my life, I'm congratulating myself finding balance, for finding a way to temper it so it serves me rather than me serving it.
Living my daily life wrapped up in Passion for any one thing robs me something vital to my well-being...balance.
So to answer your question, Courtney - Yes, I have let my Passion overtake my life in the past. You are not alone in that.
I do prefer my life this way - Passion and Calm; Energy and Quiet; Bustle and Rest - Balance.
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