Live With Passion

I have many passions in life.  Sometimes, I think that there are too many of them!  A few weeks ago  as I was sorting through and eliminating some of my stuff, I realized that some of the no longer needed items were associated with passions of the past that had run their course.  I made a vow to try my best to not take up any new hobbies that would complicate my life and require me to accumulate more items that I would have to get rid of at some point in the future. 

That being said, I feel it is important that if you do embark on a new venture, you engage in that activity with passion, focus and dedication until you have satisfied your creative urges to the fullest.  This summer, I decided that I wanted to learn how to make French macarons.  I didn’t even know that they existed until I saw them being made on 2 different cooking shows.  I got hooked.  To get good at baking these, one has to practice a lot, which I did.  After trying several different recipes and many different baking techniques, and making the macarons a few times a week over the last 2 months, the end result is what you see in the photo above.  My friends and family were happy as I ended up giving most of my “experiments” away to them.  They all tasted great, but some looked a bit peculiar.  I am still experimenting, but at least I know that I can turn out some nice macarons to take to parties or give as gifts.

The point I am trying to make here is this.  Whatever you do, do it with passion and enthusiasm. If you look at life in this way, you can apply this mode of being in the world to anything from cleaning the toilet to running for president of the United States.   Any task from the mundane to the sublime can be approached in this way.  Your inner spiritual work should be included here, too. Remember that one of the reasons why we all chose to be on our planet at this time is so that we can take advantage of the heightened energy to build up our escape velocity for the journey home.   This is the ultimate in the realm of the vibration of passion. 

Use your body as your barometer.  It will tell you if something is off.  Your body will feel better when you are on track, and you will feel that passion and enthusiasm for whatever you happen to be doing at the time.  If your body gives you a signal that something is amiss, listen to it and make the appropriate change.  If you feel a drop in your vibration, a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach, get suddenly nauseous or head-achy, your body is sending you that message.  In reference to the topic at hand, you may be getting a signal that it is time to move on from the chosen activity, or to not even start it up in the first place.   I always feel that if one is getting a message to make a change and that message is ignored, one will get increasingly out of balance as a result.  You could also look at this as generating negative karma that would just have to be resolved at a later date or in a subsequent lifetime.  Definitely not good for the buildup of escape velocity!

Back to the macarons.  Maybe it is the sugar and the chocolate in them that makes me feel so good!  Or the fun of baking them.  Or the satisfaction I get when people I give them to enjoy them so much.  Or just the metaphor for passion and enthusiasm.  Yes.  That’s probably what it is.