Passion.

Lately I've been thinking about passion. As in, things people are passionate about. I actually brought this topic up one morning with a friend and then that night (or the next one?) I happened to (finally) watch the movie "Julie & Julia." (Mitch was still out of town.) In "Julie & Julia," Julia Child and her husband, Paul, are talking about what Julia can do with her time. I don't remember exactly how it goes, but basically Julia mentions that she signed up to learn how to make hats. She also signed up to learn how to play bridge. They laugh together about those ideas since, although they provide something to do, they're not really Julia. Paul asks his wife, "What is it you really like to do?"

And I thought, "What do I really like to do?" Certainly I have things I like to do, but do I have anything I really like to do? Anything I'm passionate about? I can see lots of good examples of passion and they make me want to be passionate about something.

Take my beautiful friend, Kristal, for example. Kristal loves photography. She loves it so much that she'll spend forever researching cameras and lenses. She loves it so much that she just spent hours designing her own new photography website. She loves it so much that she'll give up all of her insecurities and ignore other people's so that she can pursue it.

My father-in-law likes biking. He goes biking on his lunch break. When he buys a car, he buys it based on whether or not his bike will fit in the back. And, when his handle bars leave little nicks in the roof of his car, it's okay because he likes biking. My in-laws don't really go on vacations unless they involve going somewhere he can bike.

Next example: my dad. Well, he's basically passionate about everything, but the thing I thought of specifically is his passion for The Magic Castle in Hollywood. Not only does he love going there, but he loves taking people with him. A lot. He has taken magic classes, he has sculpted a replica of the Castle, and he's willing to drive an hour each way to go. Anytime he talks about moving away from California, he decides he can't because he'd have to leave the Castle.

Other people are passionate about other things. Dancing. Writing. Film. Theater. The gospel. Cooking. Couponing. Hobby farms. Emergency preparedness. Gardening. Painting.

Anyway, I talked to my sister, Tracy, about this and we started making a list of what criteria makes something qualify as a passion.

1. You want to learn more about it.
2. You're willing to spend time and/or money on it. (Even if it means sacrificing time or saving money.)
   
3. It makes you feel good/makes you proud of what you do.
4. You should either have a natural ability or not mind the learning curve. It must be something you're confident doing.
   
5. It matters to you how it turns out.
6. You're a "missionary" about your passion. (You want to tell everyone about it and you want everybody else to try it to because probably, they'd love it too. They just don't know it yet.)
   
7. You're drawn to people that share your passion.
8. You're willing to do things to pursue your passion that other people wouldn't want to do. (All the pros outweigh the cons.)
9. It must be something you have access to.
10. You’re willing to adjust your life for it.
11. You're willing to risk failure to do it. (But if you do fail, you're willing to try again.)

That's what we came up with. And now I'm trying to think of something I'm passionate about. Or something I could be passionate about.

What about you? What do you really like?

Update: Mitch pointed out that I'm passionate about Dyson. It's true! I love Dyson! (Everybody loves Dyson.) Perhaps there needs to be a #12 that's something about how you can do what you're passionate about often. Or something about how there's room for advancement. Because really, you can't make Dyson your life's work or anything unless you can do more than just vacuum your house. Hmmm...