What's your passion?

(image from the European Southern Observatory, via Bad Astronomy)

Here's a neat post by Phil Plait at his Bad Astronomy blog. An excerpt:

My trash-hauling chore was forgotten. I suddenly had a flashback, visceral and total, of being a teenager. Standing at the end of my family’s driveway, I watched the sky. Every clear night you’d find me out there. I spent hundreds of hours, thousands, either gazing with my eye to the telescope or simply with my chin tipped up, the Universe unfolded above me. I would always have to pause when a car drove by, and while my absorption with the task didn’t allow it to occur to me then, I now wonder how many of those people saw me and thought to themselves that I was wasting my time.

But as I stand outside my house as an adult, gaping up at the sky, I am familiar there. The stars are my friends… no, that’s hopelessly anthropomorphic and somewhat twee. But they are like slipping your feet into well-worn slippers, like the first bite of a recipe you’ve perfected by countless trial-and-error meals, like holding a book whose spine has been softened through years of reading and re-reading.

I’m comfortable with the sky. I’m at home there. When I stand in my yard and look up, my heart sings and my mind reaches out. My weekly chore was interrupted, delayed, but it didn’t matter.

I don’t know what your own passion is. But I will say this, and you hear me well: no time is wasted spent under the stars. And no time is wasted spent doing what you love.

I'm not an astronomer, not even an amateur, but the passion Phil Plait brings to astronomy is obvious. It's great seeing someone with such an intense interest. Even if I don't really share that interest, I find myself drawn to his enthusiasm. Yes, I'll think, that is neat.

I've never been a person with a particular overriding passion. As this blog attests, I find just about everything interesting. I majored in Journalism at the University of Nebraska only because it let me take such a wide variety of other classes, and I never did figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

But that's OK. I've known people who've discovered a lifelong interest, a real passion, something they wanted to spend their life doing. That's great. It really is. Sometimes, it's a hobby. Other times, they're lucky enough to make a career out of what they love. But either way - whether I share that interest or not - it's a wonderful thing.

But me, I tend to serial passions. I find almost everything interesting, but there will be times when I'm particularly enthused at one thing or another. Those enthusiasms may last for years, but not forever. Oh, I remain interested, that's always the case. But I like variety. Sooner or later, it's time to move on to something else. That's just me.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with that, either. You might be better off if you're the type who can focus on a lifelong passion. In fact, I think that's almost certainly the case. But we're all different. We can't try to be what we're not. One way or another, though, you need to find life interesting.

It doesn't matter if no one else shares your passion (although these days, it's easy enough to find fellow enthusiasts on the internet, no matter what your interests might be). It doesn't matter if other people don't get it, or even if they laugh at you. What matters is that you find it fascinating,... and that you're willing to put some effort into it.

Yes, it has to be an active passion. Sleeping till noon isn't a passion. Mindlessly watching television isn't a passion. It must be active, not passive. And generally speaking, you'll get out of it what you put in.

I really admire the kind of kid - heck, the kind of adult - who spends every clear night looking through his telescope. It doesn't have to be astronomy, of course. But that kind of passion is really neat. And if it doesn't last, that's OK, too. No doubt it will always be an interest. And the experience of enthusiasm is important. Enthusiasm is so wonderful that you'll want to feel that way again and again.

Are you bored? As far as I'm concerned, that's a sin. Look around. The world is your oyster.