French Fries (Photo credit: fritish)
People are throwing around the word passion like it’s salt on French fries. It’s becoming a very popular word to describe spirited energy and excitement about something — whether it’s business, facing the day, or doing PR, for example.
I consider myself a passionate person in a number of ways — I have an incredible passion for blogging; I write with a voice that is WSYWIG — people are surprised to Skype for the first time and see that I am how I write.
I am passionate about public relations. It angers me when my peers get short shrift in our profession because others don’t understand how or what we do.
Having a passion for various aspects of life are also part of the total package. Does that mean people with passion are born with it, or can it be taught? Does passion come with maturity and a few years under the belt? Is it all about experiences others don’t have?
Marketers try to tap the passion about their products when writing copy or with storytelling. I get that…people need to tap inner emotion to bring out the pocketbook and build loyalty and evangelism.
What I hope doesn’t happen, though, is that the word passion becomes boring. People with instinctual passion for their approach to life bring a zeal others strive for.
If passion becomes mundane, then we who have that inner light naturally will need to use another word to describe our zest for life.
What’s your definition of passion? Do you think it can be taught? Is it something innate or does it ripen with time and seasoned expertise? Do you think passion is being thrown around like salt on French fries?
This is one of those blog posts where I’m just thinking and don’t have the answer; maybe you do.
