What makes you passionate?

General Discussion
#1

This question has really become important to me lately. I am a university drop out, I left shortly after getting my Anthro Bach and certificates in Social Statistics/Qualitative Anthropology. I left due to a lack of work in those fields, it used to be the sort of job where you get a government position in any number of agencies or could work for specific social firms… but those times have recently changed where I am from. I found myself becoming very anxious of the idea of sitting in a cubical using what I learned to crunch faceless numbers, for pointless work and suddenly the passion died. I did very well considering, and now operate my own business.

This left me with an open wound, and I was surprised how empty I felt without anything to be passionate about. I’ve taken up many hobbies since and I do get passionate about them but that seems very short lived. The stuff I’ve involved myself in are things like Aquarium keeping, Fossil hunting, geocaching, PC gaming, and writing… I jump from one to another and they keep me content enough, but I do notice that my desire for gaming is quickly burning out. I’m not quite sure of what caused this.

My most recent passion crutch has been about art, which is odd because it is a subject that never interested me at all. However there is this one particular art project which mixes what I love about fantasy, games, and apparently art all together in a giant on going project. and this is called Jerry’s Map - check the link for a short video on the subject.

Since you folks on the discourse have been pretty interesting in all the discussions here I thought why not ask what it is which evokes passion. I’m very curious! So spill the beans!

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#2

Passion is a very tricky thing for me. I never seem to be able to keep a hobby for long. I really like graphic design, just making simple things for friends and family.

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#3

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through a tough time. I know how you feel. I’ve recently had to leave my cubicle job because the stress of it and the dullness of it combined was giving me a lot of stress-related issues. So I have been trying to leave the industry I loved for so many years and find something I’m passionate about that might also make some money.
I know the feeling of emptiness.
I feel strongly passionate about telling stories, whatever the medium. Someone just asks me about one of my stories and I can go on forever. I try to keep it brief, 'cause I know most people don’t want a 2 hour lecture about representation in media or my ideas for what makes a compelling narrative or character. I love storytelling in all its mediums; video games, movies, books, comics, cartoons, tabletop roleplaying… Any of it. I love it! It pumps me up to have an opportunity to tell stories, or to see a fine one told or to participate in group storytelling that is D&D and its derivatives.
My passion is storytelling, and the emotions and discussions that arise from worlds entirely in our imaginations.

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#4

I decided to find something that can benefit others so I took up Volunteer Firefighting when I was 17. To some peoples surprise Volunteer Firefighting takes up more than half the hours im not at work every week. Cant even tell you the amount of days worth of time dedicated to that, not even including the hundreds of hours worth of training. Yea we dont get payed to do the same job as the paid counterparts, but even for them it was never about pay, sheer satisfaction in helping others during their time of need and serving a purpose is what keeps most of us going. I’ll be honest and say that we also love the adrenaline rush of going into a burning building, full of smoke so thick you cant see whats right in front of your mask. After all is said and done when your bone tired after fighting extreme heat in what seems to be a winter outfit suited for a trek up Mount Everest you realize you need to get back to the station and wash the trucks, clean the tools, repack your hoses and just as you get done you hear the dispatcher hit your station out for another call of some sort. The joy of being a mad man is both a blessing and a curse.

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#5

Some personality types get hyper-focused on one thing, other types will move from interest to interest. You may be of the latter type. I wouldn’t feel bad about that, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to explore the world and seek out new and diverse experiences. Sounds to me like you’re actually most passionate about trying new things. How could that be a bad thing? You may not gain the depth that other people do in a particular subject, but you’re still an interesting person that has knowledge on a wide variety of topics. I say embrace your hobby short-livededness, and sample as many hobbies as can keep you entertained.

I have a different problem, in that I tend to acquire new hobbies, but never lose old ones, leaving me with very little time for each. I have to pretty much rotate them, in order to achieve the sort of depth I crave, spending a few weeks or months at a time totally dedicated to a particular project, then leave it alone after achieving my goals and coming back to it again after I’ve focused on something else for a while.

As for my passions, I am most passionate about acquiring data, and figuring out or designing systems. I have a mind that delights in taking things apart and putting them back together again, often in new ways. This might mean physical objects, but it often means theoretical concepts, or even software. I write code as a hobby, I read scientific journals, and I sit for hours at a time just thinking. I consider myself a futurist and a historian. I’m more interested in what-ifs than present day concerns. I apply logic and the scientific method to everything I do, but I rely on intuitive leaps to arrive at my hypotheses before testing. I see order in apparent chaos, logic in apparent paradox. Finding that structure is wonderful.

I am also passionate about stories of all kinds. I like to tell stories—I’m a (mostly) fiction writer—and I also like hearing or reading them. Games like Stonehearth appeal to me a great deal because I can basically use it to tell stories with, and emergent behavior in a simulation like this is great fodder as well. I also “study” stories, because again, I’m somebody who enjoys systems. I think a lot about the structure of stories, the interaction of all the moving parts, and the ways in which one can set up systems to accomplish a desired outcome in a plot. I delight in finding a fellow writer who can feed me with new systems and structure, or propose creative new solutions or provide difficult new problems.

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#6

Nice :smiley: .

Complete opposite of me. I tend to have few hobbies, but I get quite involved with them (glances at his bookshelf overflowing with Warcraft novels & RPG rulebooks).

Nothing wrong with this IMHO. Maybe you just need a different game to play, book to read or w/e. Personally, I’m into (some) computer games[1], history (especially if it involves Brits)[2], current affairs[3], sci-fi and fantasy[4], plus swimming & SCUBA diving[5] (BSAC naturally :wink: ).

  1. Anything by Blizzard or Westwood Studios, Portal, Total War games, Stonehearth ( :stuck_out_tongue: ), Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, Homeworld series, Victoria 2 / Europa Universalis, Mass Effect, Master of Orion 2.

  2. Especially if it’s age of sail / British Empire stuff.

  3. Tories > Labour, Republicans > Democrats, Thatcher & Reagan > any other post-WW2 leaders, Anglosphere values > everyone else’s*.

  4. E E Smith, Stephen Baxter, Warhammer 40,000, Tolkein, Honor Harrington, A Song of Ice & Fire, Patrick Rothfuss, Terry Pratchett, plus a bunch of my own worldbuilding that I’d like to write novels about eventually (see my art thread elsewhere here).

  5. I’ve dived off Egypt & Mauritius so far, swum with hammerhead sharks, explored a WW2 wreck… fun times :slight_smile: .

  • Will happily debate anyone here, but in a new thread please. Don’t want a grumpy @Geoffers747 :stuck_out_tongue: .
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