“One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.”
E.M. Forster
“One should never creep when one feels the impulse to soar.”
Helen Keller
“You can have anything you want – if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish – if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”
Robert E. Lee
Passion is one of those “buzz” words that people seem to use a lot these days. Webster’s defines it as an “intense, driving, overmastering feeling or conviction. Here are a few synonyms: fervor, ardor, enthusiasm, zeal.
In an ideal world, we’d bring passion to the page all the time. Whenever we sit down to write, we’d feel excited, enthusiastic, zealous, and creative. We’d tackle our words and paragraphs with zest and zip. The warm glow of our ardor would leap from the page and kindle a kindred glow within our readers.
Whoops! That’s castle in the sky stuff. Sustaining passion over the long haul is tough. Some days, it’s hard to pull it from our kit bag. What to do, what to do?
Here’s some advice from my good friend and mentor, Rob Gilbert’s Success Hotline (973.743.4690): “Put out the effort and the attitude of a superstar. You’ll amaze yourself!”
When you’re not feeling passionate and enthusiastic, there’s a simple solution: Act as if. Fake it ’till you feel it. That’s right: Act as if you’re a superstar writer and pretty soon you’ll begin feeling like one. To succeed, we need to be passionate players, regardless of the mood we’re in. So let’s act our way into it if we have to. And write on!
I really enjoy your posts, always positive, always insightful, always making me smile. And you’re right about passion, about faking it when it’s not readily at hand, because it often creates a change in the mind which sustains you when you most need it. And where would we be without passion? Life wouldn’t be much worth living; what would be the point?
Hi,
Thank you so much for your lovely note — I am so glad you’re finding my musings on the writing life uplifting! And I always look forward to your wonderful comments–they add so much to my day and make me feel as if I’m really connected to the magical writing world beyond my desk. And Yes, you are so right about passion — it’s the divine spark! But sometmes it smolders deep within us and we have to rekindle it any way we can. As you said so well, acting as if often creates the mood change we need to keep going.
Write on, Karin
> Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 15:58:40 +0000 > To: kmja_w@hotmail.com >
This ‘as if’ acting till it becomes true is something I’ve had to work on. You’d think, as a teacher, I would have sussed it early on in my career, but no, just twigged it a couple of years or so before retiring. Still, it’s been useful in my second part-time career as an accompanist and, occasionally, piano soloist. Better late than never!
Hi,
Yes, I feel the same way: “acting as if” takes practice and also the flexibility to let yourself put on a show without being too judgmental with yourself about it. It’s wonderful that you’ve applied this concept in other creative areas of your life. And to keep you inspired, here’s a quote I love from George Eliot: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
Write on, Karin
> Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 21:48:20 +0000 > To: kmja_w@hotmail.com >
An excellent quote!
So glad you enjoyed it — I have passed it on many a time!
> Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2013 23:53:30 +0000 > To: kmja_w@hotmail.com >