What's your passion?

I admire people who know their passion. People with passion get things done, often against tremendous odds. Just one example: Jonas Salk worked for decades, with passion, to find a vaccine effective against polio. We all lined up in the 1950s for the vaccine, and polio ceased to terrify the nation at the onset of every summer season.

But what if you don't know what your passion is? Like me. I don't have a 'passion.' And not for lack of trying. I've participated in workshops to discover what I should be doing with my life. I've thought long and hard to answer the question I've been told will help you uncover your passion: What would you do if money were no object?

My problem is that I am wildly passionate about many things. For about 15 minutes. My prairie. My latest vacation. Flowers. Photography. Reading. Art. A new recipe. Good grief, I can even be passionate about painting the bathroom.

I am fortunate to have discovered a talent as a writer. As a writer, I can indulge my long list of interests while honoring my short attention span. As a writer, I come into regular contact with people who do know their passion. And I can enjoy their passions as I share their stores with others in articles I write.

In the latest issue of The Iowan, I shared two such stories. One is of Kimberly Madison, a talented artist who declares she is 'standing on the shoulders' of her African American ancestors as she creates paintings and uses the proceeds to benefit charitable organizations. The second is Kevin "BF" Burt, a singer who is working to create the unique sound of Iowa blues. Kimberly and Kevin know their passions and pursue them every day.

With each assignment, the more I learn about the passions of the people I meet, the more excited I become. Artists. Musicians. Those who quilt or play Go or restore pioneer cemeteries. It is all intensely interesting to me - in the short term. The world is so full of so many interesting people and activities, how could I limit myself to just one passion?

American author, theologian, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman is reported to have said: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

In my case, one of the things the world needs - good writers and communicators - is also what makes me come alive - learning about and sharing the lives of others.

As we launch a new year, I can get my arms around 'coming alive.' If money is no object, or if it is, I can get excited about coming alive.

I geek libraries

I love the new library site that lets you share your passion and lets you see what sends others to their local libraries.

I'm thinking more about libraries because I take to the road again this week - after a summer break - to share stories from and about my memoir. I've been fortunate to have so many libraries ask me to do programs for them. As I've traveled the state, I've seen first hand what vibrant community centers our libraries are.

Libraries are under budget pressure - like everyone else - but they're a community resource that deserves our support. Libraries offer computers and Internet access when many have had to give up that luxury at home. They provide entertainment for free - books and movies you don't have to pay to enjoy. They are a community gathering place, a place for social interaction that may be just what someone who's lost their job needs. All this and more at your local library.

So what do you geek? Log on, have a little fun, share your passion, and find out how you can support your local library.

Pursuing passion

I've always admired people with passion.  People who know their passion are willing to commit time and energy and resources to advance the cause that holds their heart. 

I've never been able to point to just one thing that is my passion. I flit from one area of interest to another like a hummingbird relentlessly moving from flower to flower, drawing nectar from one bloom and then another. This may be why writing is so gratifying for me.  As a writer, I have the pleasure - the honor, I would say - of meeting people with passion, drawing in some of that passion, and then sharing it with others through my articles.

A couple of months ago, I traveled to eastern Iowa to talk with three people who have spent the last 13 years organizing and leading volunteer efforts to restore the pioneer cemeteries in Jackson County.  Doing the research, working with land owners, acquiring the right of ways,  getting the materials, completing the heavy work in the heat of summer.  It is hard work, but rewarding.  "Because the people there are not forgotten." 

Fortunately, these people show no signs of stopping.  They have restored a handful of perhaps 100 pioneer cemeteries in the county.  You can read about them in the article I wrote for the March/April 2009 issue of The Iowan.

Just this week I spoke with a woman who is passionate about slugs. Yes, slugs. Slugs so small that for years she didn't even know they existed because they were about the size of grains of sand.  Although she is virtually a professional, she considers herself a citizen scientist, someone who is just being observant of - and caring about - our natural environment.  

Her passion is contagious. Because of her, I may find my way to participating in an Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation 'bioblitz' sometime this year.  And putting in the patch of native prairie grasses and flowers I've thought about for years. And I will write about her.

And then I will flit off to someone else with passion.