Passionate Work

I’ve been linking to Kathy Sierra more and more, but maybe that’s because of my recent life decisions. It’s funny, but the one answer I find myself giving more than any other when people ask me why in the world I would give up my job is “I’m following my passion.” And my passion is learning. Call me weird…I LOVE blogs and wikis and Skype and RSS and Delicious. I love these tools because I am continually learning when I use them. It’s just my reality.

So anyway, here’s today’s Kathy quote:

We can’t expect passionate users, if we ourselves can’t hold (or rediscover) the passion we felt for the work we chose. That doesn’t mean we have to love our actual job — I’ve had plenty of JOBS that could suck the life out of the most inspiring work on the planet. But I’m not talking about the job, which you can change, this is about the actual thing–teaching, writing, programming, delivering a sermon, playing with your kids, training your dog, giving a presentation, managing a team, evangelizing a cause, whatever it is.

Amen. It took me a long time to find something that I was truly passionate about, and that’s why I’m leaving, so my work and passion will be one in the same. (And at that point, it’s not really work, is it?)

Now I know passion doesn’t necessarily pay the bills. But I almost defy you to show me a successful person that didn’t get there by being passionate about something. Yeah, for many it’s the passion to make huge sums of money. But in most cases, the money is the icing. It starts with a love of something, some idea or act that pays you back in ways money never could. When I watch my six year old son shooting baskets in the snow, or watch my eight year old daughter intently brush the knots from her horse’s mane, I tingle, literally, and wonder if they are feeling even just a bit of what I feel, the Zen like flow of the act. Are they feeling the flickers of passion?

I hope so.