Ask anyone who knows me to describe what sets me apart and I’m fairly certain the answer will be passion. I’m not talking about the passion one finds tucked within the underpants of erotica or romance novels (though I have that passion as well). The passion I refer to is that passion as defined by Merriam Webster dictionary as:
Intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction
And when you ask those people, they will most likely say I am a man of many passions. But this post isn’t just about those things that I am passionate about. I want to give myself a chance to speak out to anyone who might call themselves an artist to beg of you to dig deeply into the wells of your own passion.
I understand perfectly that I speak often to artistry and the artist’s soul. Why? Because to anyone attempting to bring to life a creation of artistic nature (a book, a play, a sculpture, a painting, a piece of music) the single most important act you can make is breaking through the barrier between the mundane and the majestic. This is no easy feat. For some, it’s not even a possibility. That is, of course, not to say that anyone who can tap into their artistic soul is better off than those who cannot; but without embracing the possibility, you do a disservice to your creativity.
I know this well. How? Let me ask you a question. Are you of the artistic bent? If so, how long can you go without creating? A day? A week? A month? Anyone with a soul dipped in the chocolate of artistry knows that denying that creative passion leads to an imbalance of sorts — an almost irrational fear that something deep within you is about to whither and die. Why do you think that is? I believe it is your heart insisting its will upon your brain to keep sanity from spiralling down your spinal cord.
Passion. Soul. All intangibles, yet we all feel so connected to these esoteric ideas. For me, they are that which drives me forward in my beings and doings. With passion and soul I pen my works, teach my thoughts, spread my ideas, love my wife and family. That only barely scrapes the surface of that which I am most passionate about.
Passion is brutal. It makes you ache and burn. It’s that thing you hurt to be or create. Without that burning desire, the artist is nothing.
What about you? What is it on this planet that consumes your passion and your soul? Dare you share?