Embracing life's passions

by Jennifer Conlee, co-associate editor

There’s a space inside everybody that holds his or her passion. 

This passion can be for anything that they hold dear. Some people are passionate about animals, wildlife, or nature.  Others wildly support their political affiliations.  Some will do anything for their friends and family.

For me, my passion is music.  I do not have the ability to pick up any instrument and play it, because my hands aren’t coordinated enough for that.

However, I can sing.  I know I don’t have the best voice in the world, but I have been told that I am good, and not just by my mother.

I have the ability to pick up lyrics after hearing the songs played only a couple of times.  Other people have the words in front of them, but I find that words are a hindrance to the creative process.

I find that I am happiest when I am surrounded by music.  I can be on stage, in the middle of a musical production or in one of my ensembles at college, and I feel that I am where I am supposed to be.

I have also found that all I have to do to feel whole is listen to a good musician, whether it’s a good CD or a live production.  I was recently introduced to a musician who is an outstanding piano player.  Every time I listen to his CDs, I absolutely melt.  I get lost in the lyrics of his songs. I start out in one mood, and at the end of the CD, it’s like waking up in a new place, though I don’t know how I got there.  It’s been a long time since a musician caused that kind of reaction in me.

I am a firm believer that everyone should embrace his or her passions.  For years, my mother tried to discourage me from music, thinking I should do something more worthwhile. 

I finally decided to go into a career that allowed me to write, which is another of my passions, but I refused to give up music.  I started taking voice lessons and joined my ensembles, both of which give me an excuse to sing.

Many people hide their passions, believing that the thing they love is something that they should be ashamed of.  Boys who like to dance won’t do so because of the stigma attached to such a thing.

However, the more a passion is withheld, the more a person allows others to force the enthusiasm out of them, the more lifeless that person will become.  God gave us each something to be good at, something to love. We need to do the thing that we love in order to live a fulfilled life.

If I lost my music, if someone told me that I could no longer sing or listen to the songs I love so much, I would be lost.  Without my passion, I would have no reason to live, and I know it is the same with everybody.  I refuse to give it up, even when my mother tells me it’s ridiculous, or when someone who doesn’t like me tells me that I’m a bad singer.

So I encourage everyone to discover what his or her passions are, and live that passion rather than hide it.  If everyone does this, I believe that the world will be a happier place, because everyone will be doing the very things that make him or her happy.