Passions, Otherwise Known as Unhealthy Obsessions

Hey, lookey-here, another Finish-the-Sentence Friday, courtesy of Katie Hall! Any excuse I can find to indulge in this topic, since I am a very passionate person and sometimes journaling just doesn’t cut it. Plus, this is Friday, and I need to write something easy and non-serious so the first thing visible on this blog isn’t my first public attempt at poetry. Gah.

I am very passionate about…

Um, everything? More specifically, everything I write about on this blog?

Do you need more detail? I guess so. I’m feeling lazy today this week. Must be a twenty-four hour tumor going around.

Let me see if I can drill my passions down to the biggies…

I guess it goes without saying that I’m passionate about Mike. He’s number one in my book. I demonstrate this passion by cooking him meals sometimes (I wouldn’t do that for just anyone, especially a husband, because ick, stereotypical gender roles! I just happen to be the better cook/pickier eater) and attempting to be cooperative when it comes to joint decisions. I am very independent, and this part of marriage – you know, the “merging of lives” and “compromise” aspect – is challenging for me, but I do it for him because he’s one I’d like to keep.

Another thing I’m passionate about is traveling. New, exciting places of cultural and historical significance or natural beauty will get me talking like nothing else, and I’m not much of a talker. Please, tell me all about your trip to Thailand! I want to hear all about the freaky spider you ate there. Oh, you went to Istanbul? Please, tell me all about your day at the pazar and the freaky new foot rash you caught in the communal bath!

My infrequent ability to travel only exacerbates the symptoms of this passion. Money, job, responsibilities, blah blah, you know the drill. I seldom go one hour without mentally planning my next trip, then entertaining days of excruciating mental agony because I know I can’t go for real. Sniff.

Passion number three is the arts. Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic (just kidding, down with math!), music, theatre, dance, crafts, painting, photography – beauty and creativity in general makes me tick and motivates me unlike anything else. I only currently practice reading, writing and painting for a lack of more available time, but at one point I have tried all the above, and one day, as God is my witness, I will go back to the stage! Lady Macbeth is a role that calls my name.

Passion number four is learning. I listen to NPR and TED Talks for fun – for FUN. I cried when my EBSCOhost subscription got canceled because I was no longer a college student, as it meant I could no longer research critical opinion on every novel I read. I spent ten years in college with only a year and a half break (y’know, a year for rehab and a semester between Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. The usual). In fact, I would go back for the PhD if it weren’t so friggin’ expensive and would result in an actual paid career. Once upon a time I was a teacher, but only because I liked an excuse to research and study for myself. I discovered teaching was not my cup of tea when California decided it was going to lay off 132,000 teachers and destroy the public collegiate system.

Maybe I should try to go teach English in France? Because there aren’t enough American girls trying to get their feet in that door, right?

Mike would quit his job and come with me, right?