PASSIONATE

Last night I was reading my new issue of Real Simple and came to an article about finding your passion. The author suggested a good way to find what your passion really is would be to picture yourself at a party where you know no one. You're walking around the room and overhear a conversation that so strikes your interest that you absolutely have to jump in. "Excuse me," you'd say, "I overheard you talking about X and I simply had to join in."

So I thought about that for a while and decided I would probably interrupt conversations about Auburn, FRIENDS, writing, singing, Justin Timberlake, or American Idol. Which is weird, because those are all things I like, but I would only say I was "passionate" about four of them. I like JT and Idol, but I am far more die-hard about singing, writing, Auburn and FRIENDS, and have been for quite some time. Furthermore, I feel there are other things I would like to do with a career, but wouldn't say I am "passionate" about at this point (read: I wouldn't interrupt a conversation about stationery; I'd just eavesdrop).

So how do those four obsessions translate into a career I am passionate about? The article suggested that people who like cooking go to work for a catering company, but not necessarily as a chef. Or, I thought about my friend Jennifer who loves design/decorating. Though she isn't a designer or interior decorator (professionally), she works for a home design/decorating Web site, and therefore is around design/decorating/her passion all day long. So following that school of thinking, I wonder if I need to either work in the music industry (so I could be around singing), work for Auburn, or write about things that interest me, like singing, Auburn, JT, American Idol or FRIENDS.

Obviously it would not be wise of me to put a lot of time toward how to channel the FRIENDS thing into a career, since that ship sailed when the show went off the air. But - that doesn't mean I can't write about it. So guess what?

I get asked often which Friends season or episode is my favorite. I decided it would be a good task to choose my top 10 favorite episodes out of all 236 of them. A good task, but a hard task. So, after more thought and deliberation than was probably necessary, here you go:

1. The One Where Ross Got High - 6.9
2. The One With the Lottery - 9.18
3. The Last One - 10.17 and 10.18
4. The One With Videotape - 8.04
5. The One With the Rumor - 8.09
6. The One With the Late Thanksgiving - 10.8
7. The One With the Embryos- 4.12
8. The One Where No One's Ready- 3.2
9. The One With Monica's Thunder - 7.01
10. The One Where Rachel Has A Baby - 8.23 and 8.24
(Honorable Mention) Chandler and Monica's Wedding - 7.23 and 7.24

Now you may notice a pattern here. I like episodes where the whole cast is together (i.e.: Thanksgiving episodes) and I also like the later seasons better than the earlier ones. Maybe in future posts I will tell more about why these 10 are my favorites.

So there. I really enjoyed writing that and spending time coming up with that list. Maybe this whole find your passion thing is worth something.

Perhaps Langston Hughes put it best:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I think the real problem isn't that I don't know what my dream/passion is, it's that I don't know how to get it. Or more accurately, where to start (before it's too late and I fester, stink, crust over and sag).

P.S.: Please don't judge me if you think my passions/obsessions are shallow. I have lots more interests than those obsessions. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it wrong (or me shallow).