I think we all feel passionate about something or other–eventually, our routine lives gain some hobbies for those leisure times  we do get from time to time. If we’re lucky in our choice of a hobby or two, this fascination may develop to the next remarkable level, a passion. I have friends who are excited talking about their passions–stamp collections, coin collections, recent golf or tennis games, hiking and exploring, mountain climbing and the list goes on.

I went through a number of hobbies while finding myself and working. Once I thought being a guitarist was the “coolest” thing on earth, so I spent some money on a steel-string guitar and a year on lessons. Other than a lot of callouses on my fingers and bored with playing chords–I wanted to zip along to the melodies–I gave it another try by switching to classical guitar with nylon strings that were a lot easier on the fingers. Instead of playing country-western, I now embarked on my version of Jose Feliciano, which was not a pretty sound on my guitar. After another year of lessons, I concluded that I would never be a guitarist, whether I played chords or melody. The guitar went to a friend who coaxed such beautiful music from the strings that I knew my guitar had found its new home. So I took a course on “Fermented Drinks Around the World,” despite the fact I couldn’t sample any alcohol without turning beet-red on one sip. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture parts and filled with enthusiasm, signed up for another course on “Wine-Making at Home.” All of these interests never became a passion but it sure made stimulating dinner conversations.  By this time, my physical side made its appearance and I then embarked on a  series of appealing forms of exercise: Line-Dancing, Zumba, Burlesque-Fit, Tennis, Golf and even good old-fashion gym workouts. None became a “passion.”

Throughout my search, I kept taking various writing courses and enjoyed all of them. But, there came that “Eureka” moment, when I just knew that I had to grab that pen to see if I could truly write,  I did–and this is my passion–to entertain for a few brief moments; to see if I can grab your attention and set you to thinking or smiling or nodding your head. After all, anyone can write, but how many of us can capture your attention for a few minutes and get a reaction?