Today at dinner, I had a conversation with a guy who is pretty involved in theater here at Morris. I’ve known who he is for a while as Morris is pretty small and it’s easy to know who people are here, but we’ve never spoken before.
At one point, we got onto the topic of theater and he started talking about two really intense roles he’s been in–one that he had last school year and one that he is currently preparing for right now. He talked about how despite the profound differences in these two characters, both of these roles have pushed him incredibly as an actor.
I was struck by how passionate he was about this. How he viewed these roles not as characters to pick up for a little while and then cast aside once the show wrapped up; rather, he seemed to approach both roles with the full intention of growing as an actor and as a person while in them.
After dinner, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way he talked about these characters and how meaningful they were to him. The way he exhibited his own passion made me think about my own passions.
Lately, I have lost sight of my own passions because of my current stress level; the fact that my passions are so closely associated with my school work certainly hasn’t been doing me any favors.
I could easily see turning my passion for history into a career. Few things get me as excited as a fantastic historical breakthrough. Of late, however, even my history senior seminar project, which I really do love, has become more of a chore to complete than anything else.
Likewise, my Understanding Writing class is probably the best class I’ve ever taken. This introduction to composition studies has completely changed my life in the way I view writing. The paper I turned in for that class today, also on a topic that I was really excited about, was such a struggle to complete because of my stress level and my unbelievably strong desire to just be done with this semester.
Thank goodness for WordPress. Without WordPress, I wouldn’t have had an outlet for all the stress I’ve been experiencing lately. I’ve been pretty uninspired in the realm of academic writing of late, and I’m so thankful that WordPress has allowed to me keep pushing myself in my personal writing. It has ensured that I don’t lose complete sight of my passion for writing; even though writing for school has been so hard, I always know I can log on to WordPress and find a place where writing becomes a release rather than a burden.
This guy, whom I’ve known of for awhile but only today had a conversation with, allowed me to realize just how important my passions are to me. Stress has clouded those passions but they are still very much a part of me.
It just goes to show how meaningful something as simple as a conversation with someone you’ve never talked to before can be; how it can change your perspective.
After all, what is life without passion?
It's a Britta Bottle! 