Of Passion and Prolificness

Spent all morning going through my Podtopia and VeryPeri podcasts and culling out what I don't want, posting what I do want, and thinking about what direction I want to take with each podcast.

I've got more ideas coming. The only question is, when I'll find the time to do it all. Again, the time issue comes up. I'm thinking (hoping) that now that the holiday season is winding down, I'll be able to really focus on doing some serious production. And that I'll be able to reach the level of prolificness that I seek.

It's not so much that I'm an overachiever (tho' I've been warned against being one), it's just that there's so much that interests me, that invigorates me, that drives me, that gets the proverbial juices flowing, and one things leads to another.

Once you find something(s) you're passionate about, prolific activity just seems to flow. At least, it has in my experience. The energy that swirls in the universe is just waiting to be tapped and directed, and when you find something(s) you can be truly excited about, well, then there's no end to how much you can do around it, with it, about it, for it, because of it.

When you are able to find and tap your passion(s), there is nothing that can stand in your way.

Assuming, of course, that you trust that the things you create and the activities you pursue, are worthwhile and fun. If you don't have much faith that anything you do will be useful or fruitful or enjoyable, morale sinks, and it gets a whole lot harder to get things off the drawing board. After all, if you don't think anything will ever come of your activities, why bother starting at all? Why indeed?

Kinda reminds me of the ennui that set in, in an old job I had. No matter how much we got accomplished, and how much good we did, nobody at the top seemed to understand what we'd accomplished, and it didn't really count for much, when bonus and performance review time came around. The passion that a lot of us had for the work we were doing, got quashed and squashed along the way, and so our productivity and eagerness waned. Especially mine.

I'm the kind of person who has to believe something will come of my efforts, before I launch into it. Something useful. Something interesting. Something invigorating. It drives me and informs my decisions, and it makes my life worth living. And because so many of my ideas have not been particularly well grasped (or outright denied/ridiculed/devalued) by people I worked with (that's perfectly alright, it means I'm doing the right thing by coming up with these concepts -- all the great ideas go through the same process of ridicule and denial that eventually leads to acceptance and matter-of-fact embracing, so I know my ideas are in good company)... and I couldn't get popular backing at work for them, well, I've taken matters into my own hands and created my own work in my own way, on my own time. When my passion for ideas hasn't been mirrored in the workplace (or quashed by political concerns), I've followed my passion into the hidden recesses of free time, weekends, early mornings, and stray moments grabbed in the car, here and there, when I had my iRiver MP3 recorder and microphone and could record podcasts while driving to and from work.

I've never been one to dwell in the differences between myself and the world around me. I'm a singular creature, and I don't know anyone like me. I know a few people who "get" me, but they are precious few and far between. I don't waste time trying to court the understanding of others -- I figure, if you get it, you get it. If you don't, then we can go our separate ways. Rather than cursing darkness, I prefer to light my own candle. And follow that little light into the dark recesses which frighten most people away.

If you're not going to take chances in life, then what will your life become? If you're not going to make your own chances in life, then what can you expect from life? I'm not one for waiting around till someone else makes a move for me. I'm not one to wait around for others to identify my needs and meet them. I'd much rather do things myself. And rely on my own resources -- my own passion -- to guide and direct me through life to the things I want most.

And there are a lot of things I want. Freedom. Independent wealth. Abundance of ideas. Infinite possibility. The opportunity to write and publish and put my passions for the written word and a well-designed book into tangible form. These are things that I could probably never do with the "help" of a larger organization, because at a larger level, passion can become a liability, rather than an asset (too many passionate, strong-willed people can spoil the collective soup). But these are things I can do in abundance, and in spades, propelled by the drive within me.

And it can be done.

Anything is possible.