Passionate People
Passion (from the Latin verb patere meaning to suffer) is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something.
Passion may be a friendly or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, discovery, or activity or love – to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject.
This comes straight from Wikipedia so it must be true. Ha Ha.
I love passionate people. I love how deeply they feel and how they often show it in their own special way. It may be through tears, through speaking up when needed or taking action to help someone or a cause. I have always felt that when I have a passion for something it makes me feel more alive and excited about life. I want to wake up and take on the day with vigor. It gives me something to look forward to in a way.
These two women who are part of "My Dinner Plate" series are two very passionate people to me. Mary, who I met a long time ago when she was pregnant and I was doing a photo series on pregnant women, came to my studio for a portrait. She was so filled with joy and laughter as we took images of her giant belly while her lazy dog lay at her feet. I was struck by her effortless joy even in her state of pre-motherhood. I think she laughed through the whole shoot. She now has four grown children and we remain friends. She also hires me for photography work so it helps pay for my dinner food. One of her daughters did a service trip with my daughter to Guatemala and India to help in some villages with water supplies and house building. When the girls were getting on the bus to leave for the airport for India, Mary was a bag of teary water works. She was so honestly beautiful and emotional about her daughter leaving and it was so moving to see. I think she was crying for joy, worry about her daughter and the rest of the group and moved by the whole idea of what the kids would be doing for the small village in India. Her tears were honest and pure. I loved it and I love her for her vulnerability. She seems very in touch with her feelings and not afraid to show them. She is real.
Rachel has been a dear friend since our kids were very young. I so admire the passion she has for life in general but mostly for her passion for movement. She is a dancer and an avid swimmer. She keeps trying to get me to be a fish with her but I am all about legs on the ground. She swims in the ocean and in the pool all year round. I photographed her for my project because she has been swimming for the annual Save the Bay swim for over 27 years. Her fundraising efforts have helped with the bay clean up which of course keeps the seafood in the bay healthy and edible. She is dedicated to the efforts in preserving nature and even drives a Prius to help keep our air clean. Her passion for movement extends to teaching dance to people with Parkinson's disease so whether she is swimming or dancing her movement helps in some way. I know her passion for movement brings pure joy to herself and those around her because there is always a huge Cheshire Cat smile on her face and on those who come in contact with her.
Thanks to both of you for being such awesome and inspiring, passionate women.
Do you have a passion? Do you have something that you do that is true to your heart and fills you with joy, tears, laughter or creativity? We all have a gift to share with the world and it often starts from a passion we have about something. So find your gift, your passion and share it with others. Let them see your light even if it feels small. It is valuable if it is honest and from the heart. If I were going to add to the definition of passion it would be the emotions or feelings that come straight from the heart, not from the head. They are raw, strong and moving feelings that you can't just sit on or push down. They move us to do something wonderful.
