Today I was thinking about passion versus apathy, hot versus cold. I like to think of myself as a passionate person. I tend to get very emotionally involved with people/things/places/etc very quickly, which can be both a blessing and a curse. My friends know that I am fiercely loyal and would walk over broken glass and hot coals if they needed anything from me. But what am I most passionate about? Am I using this personality trait to it's fullest potential?
My passions are as follows (in order): Family, The Temple, and Photography. At least for right now.
Family: I am ridiculously passionate about my family, especially my own little family of two. I love my husband with every fiber of my being, he is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. He keeps me grounded when I'm trying to get on the crazy train, and he still stares at me the way he did when we first started dating. I'm so lucky to have found him. He is evidence that the Lord knows me better than I know myself. I things had gone according to my plan, I would never have moved home from BYU, and who knows where I would be now. I'm so grateful for the bumpy road filled with stumbling blocks, big mistakes, and losers I dated so that I would be ready and humble enough to give the weird, creepy red-headed kid who stared at me all the time a chance to steal my heart. I'm also passionate about expanding our family. Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that I'm pretty much obsessed with babies. I'm obsessed with planning our baby, naming our baby, "decorating" our hypothetical nursery, baby shower ideas, I even know what I want the baby to wear home from the hospital if we have a boy. It is practically all I think about all the time. I want so badly to be a mother, to start our family... I just feel like that is my true calling in life.
The Temple: I adore the temple. I always have. Growing up, my Grandparents taught me by example just how important the Temple is. It was my Grandmother's favorite place in the whole world, and now that I'm able to go to the Temple I know why she loved it so much. Even before I was able to go in, I would love going and just sitting on the grounds and feeling the Spirit that resides there. To this day, every time I am driving down the 5 south on my way to the San Diego Temple, and I round the corner just before La Jolla Village Drive and I see the Temple for the first time, it still makes me cry and gives me goosebumps every single time. The Temple truly is the house of the Lord. It rejuvenates me emotionally and mentally, and sometimes it even feels like I've been physically recharged as well. There is no place on this Earth that you can feel the Spirit so strongly and be so close to our Heavenly Father. I know that when I need answers to my prayers, or when I just need to feel my Savior's arms wrapped around me, I can go to the Temple and He will provide me with what I stand in need of.
Photography: I have always appreciated beauty. Beautiful people, beautiful things, beautiful places, and now with photography, I feel like I have found a way to contribute something beautiful to this world. Don't get mad at me, but I have never felt like a beautiful person, except when I was being professionally photographed. Now, as a photographer, I feel like I have the opportunity to make people feel good about themselves, especially those people who might not feel that way about themselves on a regular basis. When I look through my camera lens, I see the world in a different way. I feel like I'm able to better appreciate the little things and little moments. I get so excited when I'm able to capture a special moment in time in a beautiful way. Like when I was taking a client's maternity photos and asked the mother and father to look down at her pregnant belly, and the mother kept stealing loving glances at her husband as he looked tenderly at their unborn child. It's moments like that that make me fall in love with photography over and over again.
What is it about these particular things that make me feel so much passion? There are a million other things in this world that I could feel that way about, why these three in particular? These are things that make me happy, more happy than I can possibly express with words. They bring a smile to my face, help the stress of my day melt away, bring me pure joy, make life seem just a little easier. I feel like each also helps me become more beautiful, even if it is just on the inside. I feel like a better, more fulfilled person because I have these things in my life. Each helps me focus on the things that are most important in this world, the things that really and truly matter. Let's face it, when I leave this world, it's not going to matter if I managed to get down to a size 10 like I would give anything to, or if I stayed at a size 14 my whole life. It's not going to matter if I was an amazing cook or if I was just average (I'm pretty darn good, but that's beside the point). Those aren't things that are a priority in my life. Happiness, however, is a priority. I just want to spend my precious free times doing things that make me truly happy. I want to spend it with family, going to the temple, or behind the lens of a camera.
What are your passions? What are the things in life that bring you the most joy and put the biggest smile on your face?
2 comments:
I love you cousin:-) And I love what you said about grandma- I sure miss her as well.
My passions are: Jared, my family, the gospel/temple/the Lord, dancing, sharing good health info, motivating others, the outdoors, and more dancing :)
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