My least favorite interview question is “What are you passionate about?”
If asked himself, my husband can easily spend at least 20 minutes going into why he is passionate about computers and technology. How, when he was a kid, he played on his family’s old PC computer and think, how does it work? Now, he goes to work and spends at least 8 hours programming, bug-fixing and hacking, then he comes home to do it all again on personal projects.
Sometimes I’m jealous of him and people like him. People who, from a young age, know they love something so much that it drives them through life to achieve personal or career goals. Children who are passionate about animals and grow up to be veterinarians. People who can’t wait to spend every winter weekend on the slopes with their skis or their snowboard. Even my dad who can spend endless hours working on his car or putzing around the yard, not because it needs to be done, but because he enjoys it. People who have a passion.
I can honestly say I have never had a particular passion or specific hobby. I can rattle off all of the activities I’ve tried throughout my life: ballet, gymnastics, baton, horseback riding, piano, theater, Girl Scouts. None of them stuck enough to keep me motivated. Now, four years out of college, I still haven’t found that one thing I love just for me. I like things fine: cooking, reading, writing, traveling, hiking. Do I love any of these things enough to do it all day, every day? Not really.
Simply, I don’t have a passion. Only until recently could I admit to that. I spent so much time envying others who have that one concrete thing to drive them and make them happy that I, myself, became unhappy. I thought, why should I feel pressure to limit myself to one thing? I like all kinds of things, and I’m good at many things. I should not be ashamed of wanting to have my fingers in a lot of different pies (mmm, pie). On the bright side, perhaps not having a clear focus will encourage me to try new things and live a more adventurous life.
That is what this blog is about. It’s not a blog about that one thing. Instead, I hope to write about the many things I try, like and enjoy, while trying to stay informative rather than overly personal. I’m keeping it flexible and unpredictable, kind of like my taste in wine. I used to be one of those winos who agonized over which wine went with which food pairing. Then a couple of years ago, a waiter at a nice restaurant, where you would expect people to fuss, said “You know what, it’s 2012, you can drink whatever you want.” Talk about an epiphany! So this year, 2014, let’s keep it interesting, shall we?
