Live With Passion

A few of your posts have gotten me thinking the last few days. More specifically, Colette's and Michelle's "Favorites" posts and Jill's competition post. In my comment for Jill's I wondered if perhaps the lack of desire to compete and excel against other people signifies a lack of passion. I think it does, but. . .I don't think that a passion for competition is the only passion that's worthy of notice. This leads me to the favorites posts. I think that the things we would call our favorites are things that we feel passionately about. I'm prone to calling my passions "weaknesses." Why? We won't even go there. I think I would need somebody with licensing and certifications to delve into why I think passion is a weakness. Nevertheless, I was thinking (in the shower, no less-- I do my best thinking in there) this morning about the things I call my weaknesses, and found that they are the things that give me the most joy. Since none of them are immoral or sinful, except maybe chocolate, I'm going to start thinking about these things as things I'm passionate about. Of course most of them are frivolous. Hey I'm just starting here! So here his a short list.

I have a weakness for buying books. Therefore my favorite thing to buy is books. Why books? I don't have to try them on, I won't grow out of them (or shrink out, if I'm lucky), and I get to spend time in a bookstore drinking hot chocolate slowly walking through the shelves.

I have a weakness for ribbon. I buy it all the time. It's my favorite thing in my craft room. And I'm always on the prowl for more!

I have a weakness for anything chocolate. Anything with chocolate is my favorite dessert. To single out a few specifically, chocolate cake from Ottavio's heated in the microwave for 10 seconds, molten chocolate cake from Chilis, any other chocolate cake as long as it has my Dad's chocolate frosting slathered on thick!

A passion for something can be found by identifying the things that you keep returning to. These are things that I come back to over and over:

I have read all of Jane Austen's books, most of Edith Wharton's books, and all of Anne Patchett's books. These are among my favorite authors. I can even tell you which are my favorites of their books. Austen-Pride and Prejudice, Edith Wharton-Age of Innocence, Patchett-Bel Canto.

As for favorite movies I think sometimes I'm embarrassed to tell what my favorite movies are. I place a lot of importance on movie taste. Don't worry. Bad taste is not enough for me to discontinue friendships or anything. I just know whose taste I can trust and whose I can't. Therefore, I want to be known as a person who has good taste in movies, because then my cinematic snobbery would be entirely unfounded. So, after taking a deep breath, here are the movies I return to over and over again.
-Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (sigh)
-Possession
-Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables The Sequel, aka Anne of Avonlea
-Sweet Home Alabama
-Never been Kissed
-Everafter
-Return to Me

OK, now I can exhale!

I think that will be all for now. I've rampled long enough. Someday if I can figure out how to put links into my posts, I'll share the things that I feel passionate about that are truly close to my heart. The things that make me cry just to think about.