How Do You Prioritize Your Passion?

I've been thinking a lot lately about our passions: why we feel drawn toward certain things, and then how we pursue them. I know "passions" can feel like a cheesy, cheap, overused word and concept -- but truly, if you're honest with yourself for a minute, you have one (or more than one) too. 

Maybe it's running. Or pottery. Or teaching. 

Maybe it's photography. Or reading. Or gardening.

Horseback riding. Fundraising. Cooking.

The possibilities are endless, because we are each so different. Even if we share the same passion, the reasons we feel pulled to something might be completely different. Maybe something is simply therapeutic for one person, while it is incredibly fulfilling for another, and finally a way to feel connected to the world around them for yet another person. And the ways in which we act on our passions are very different, as well. One person might dive in headfirst in pursuit, while another spends much of their life identifying what it is that they are passionate about and then slowly dipping a toe into the water. There is no right or wrong, again because there are no two circumstances or two people that are the same.

So, that's an empowering thought, right? Whatever it is that sets your soul on fire is yours, and yours alone. There is no competition, no winner or loser. The only person you're up against is... yourself.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to most of you that I've long felt that my calling, aside from being a mom, is to write. And when I say calling, I don't mean it in a divine way, necessarily. To me, your calling is that tug toward something that you feel excites you, fulfills you. If you had a day with no plans whatsoever, it would feel incomplete without doing this thing. You spend time thinking about this thing. It enhances your life. Perhaps it enhances others' lives.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember; keeping a journal since I was eight, making up stories, entering school competitions. I wrote articles for our local newspaper when I was in elementary school. As I grew, so did my love for writing. I majored in Journalism, and then Communications. I've contributed pieces to various outlets here and there. I have an idea for a book that has been rolling around in my mind since I became a mom six and a half years ago. And of course, I started this blog!

Sometimes it's hard not to feel disappointed and confused as to why I don't devote even more of myself to my writing. I know it's what I want to do, I feel it's what I'm meant to do, and I can picture doing it in the future. I can't picture my life without it. So, as I've been reflecting on the concept of passions lately, I've realized that at this point in my life I prioritize my time according to who's depending on me. My first priority is being a mom and an engaged member of my little family (and I love this part of myself and my life the absolute most, with full honesty) -- those are the people who depend on me most. My second priority is my work, because people depend on me there, as well. So that got me thinking that perhaps I don't prioritize writing because I feel like nobody is depending on me for it, or depending on the writing itself. 

But then I realized: I'm depending on me for it. The past version of myself, the little girl who recognized a passion and an ability to connect with people and to move people through words on paper has answered the why for me. I write to connect, and I always have. And then there's the future version of myself, the person I might become if I respect, believe in, and make time for what I'm passionate about. Those two versions of the same person - me - depend on the present version of myself to honor what I love to do. 

And I think that's probably the same for you.

It would be a terrible waste for us not to spend some of our short, precious lives doing what we love, don't you think? So I'd love to hear from you: what is your passion? Maybe you have a couple, but if you had to choose one that you feel especially pulled toward -- what is that thing? Why do you love to do it? Do you make time for it? If so, how do you make time for it?

I can't wait to hear.