I have always felt that I will run out of time. The time it will take to experience all I came here to experience, to do all that I want to do, to have an impact. My mother raised six daughters to “leave the world better” than we found it. Oh, but Mom, you didn’t mention how fast life would go. Blink and you’re decades into it.
Perhaps I feel this urgency because I’m one of the lucky ducks who has a passion. I joke that my passion came from my lack of talent at anything else, but I often wonder if my lack of talent at all else is due to my passion for my passion.
I came out of the womb asking for a book, paper and pen. I can’t remember a time I didn’t have one of the three nearby, although my laptop replaced paper and pen long ago.
But even with that—with decades of books and writing—I feel this sense of “get on with it.” There’s not enough time to read all the books, to absorb all the ideas, to translate the thoughts in my head to the page. I must have felt this, even as a small child, because my mother complained (proudly) that I pestered her mercilessly until she taught me how to read at a very young age.
When I write or read, this urgency disappears, oddly. That’s the beauty of a passion—linear time ceases to exist when you indulge it. I think of my father painting a canvas or planting a garden, my mother at her desk. They frequently lost track of time, content in a world of their own making. One did this via her work and the other via his hobbies, but both found that sweet spot where they lost themselves in the most beautiful way.
If the numbers hold true, more than 11,000 people read this blog. I wonder if that’s why I was born wanting to learn the intricacies of the written word. Is it for this? Or something bigger, weightier? Even if only 10 people were reading, I’d still write (and I remember at the start of this blog, when less than 10 were reading. If you’re one of those and you’ve stuck with me, you get a gold star.)
Writers write. And I’m a writer, that I know.
I sound like a t-shirt slogan, don’t I? Ugh. “Not enough time to read all the books and save all the dogs.” But it’s true, in my case. A natural affinity for books and dogs. Not exactly a phrase that makes you the life of the party on a dating app or in today’s crazy world at large. Perhaps I’ll become “one of THOSE people,” as my friend Matt likes to tell me. Perhaps I already am.
I think passions serve the world, if we let them. Today, I interviewed a woman who was completely jazzed over corporate supply chains. The level of excitement and enthusiasm in her voice was what I generally reserve for scoring the last Mayana Kitchen Sink Chocolate Bar at Whole Foods. While her passion is far from one I’d want, she loves it. And she’s helping a bevy of hospitals run better because of it. Changing the world for the better? Maybe her small corner of it. And if we all did that, well, how very nice it might be.
It takes all kinds. Daniel Clarke Bouchard came into this world itching to play the piano. He’s a prodigy who has played Carnegie Hall but also loves to play hockey. Cory Nieves was CEO of his own all-natural cookie company at age nine, turning his passion for baking into something he shares with the world. He says the main ingredient in Mr. Cory’s Cookies is love.
I can hear some of you through the ether already. “But I don’t have a passion, Kay.” I beg to differ. Everyone has something they do that makes time stop. You may not think of it as a passion, but the ability to lose yourself in an activity is a message from the Universe. It couldn’t be clearer. And if you haven’t found it, get quiet. See what you’re drawn to do. Not what your head says is smart or your heart leads you to. Instead, what your gut directs you to. Your gut never lies.
Pay attention to whatever it is. Nurture it. Make time for it. We’re given these proclivities for a reason, likely because we can change the world—whether in tiny or big ways—by simply “doing our thing.”
Because, tick tock goes the clock.
As my father used to say: Let’s see whatcha’ got, Ace.
candidkay 
Great reminder!!
😀
Another beautiful post, K! Glad you found your passion! If lucky, it finds and grabs you at an early age, as it did you. Methinks one can find a new passion at various stages of life, but one has to want to find it, and be prepared to do something about it. And sometimes, during/ after a period of illness or retreat from normal life, one discovers a hitherto unknown passion, which may explain why so many writers/artists/inventors traced the birth of their creativity to such a time in their lives.
And I know you can relate to that last part. I’m so glad that out of some tough times came you sharing with all of us
So agree with you! When I was young I would set my parents typewriter on the dining room table and tap away. My mom set up a tiny little square table with a red vinyl top and yellow flower pattern between the China cabinet and buffet in our dining room. I remember writing away on pads of paper in that little cove then masking taping those stories to the wall and buffet. This summer has been full of travel and family celebrations so writing has been limited to scribbles in journals and planners. Now that summer is dwindling and the fall schedule is coming into full view I look forward to pouring into that passion again! Thanks for this beautiful reminder!!! Tick, tick!
I love that story and that you remember it in such detail. And I love that you wrote from an early age. I feel like I first binged on half the books in the universe and only then began to write. I guess we all have our own paths. But I am so glad that you continue to find yours :-).
You have fanned your flames so well, Kay. I am glad I’ve read your thoughts here these years. You narrate and interpret wonderfully what comes between the tick and the tock.
Aw, thank you, Mark. You have been one of the ones who has supported me through the years and I’m so appreciative. Here’s to doing what we love!
Cheers, Kay, for the platform and dedication to expression.
being satisfy’d with a lifetime–
’tis one’s preeminent reward
Fortunately. my adding my blog site to my other hobbies/activities has been a positive supplement to My Time as well. Nice post, fellow writer.
Right? Or as my mother used to say, take care of the minutes and the hours take care of themselves:). Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Yes time is moving faster !
But feels like it stops when you do something you love, I hope.
Every time !!! You can get lost in the writing process
I’m with you Kristine. What is everyone waiting for? Retirement? A diagnosis? Their Deathbed? We need to search for our passion ‘now’ and not waste a minute longer on anything that keeps us small, contracted and unhappy. Life is so full when we are doing what we love. And we are so glad you are doing what you are perfect at! Keep writing. 🙂
Ooh. Contracted is a good description for the opposite of doing what we love. And thank you for the encouragement :-). I don’t think I could stop writing if I tried.
“Content in a world of their own making”–that’s exactly how I feel when I write:-)
Me too😊
I’ve felt like that about time for as long as I remember – and I still feel that way, so when I get a chunk of time I often procrastinate about what to do with it because there are so many things I could be doing with it!!! I’ve noticed that time and what we do with it is a recurring theme in my fiction too.
I know that feeling. So many options that you almost become paralyzed by indecision. I am rarely forward to. The concept of being bored as a common state has always fascinated me. I am thinking people who get bored easily maybe don’t feel the constraints of time as we do.
I had a teacher in my school who had retired during the time I was a student there. In her farewell speech she said “if you want to be happy in life, lose yourself in the love for something inanimate.” These were her exact words. I don’t think I understood what that meant at that age. Today I can lose myself at my work…when I am working on a project, keenly focused and unmindful about everything else, I am happiest. Today I can appreciate her words. We all have at least few people in our lives whom we love and in some cases whom we live for. But the experience of losing sense of time while focused on something we are passionate about, is altogether different. Not everyone finds that.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could find that? Having experienced it, I just wish everyone could. And what a wise teacher :-). I bet she would have loved that her words stuck with you through the years.
Hi,
I admit that the crunch of time…it feels like it slips, slips so fast out of my grip.
I’ve noticed it more this past few years.
I keep journals..pen and paper..to help figure things out.
My laptop lets me speed through and get the full story down.
Now, just muddling my way through the muck, hoping to come out…at some point.
Here’s to dreams, let’s keep them and pursue them with passion..that we stop the ticking if the clock.
Nims
~healing in bits and pieces
And when healing, there’s no need to be watching that clock :-). I do believe that when healing, we just need to take all the time we need without worrying about it. I hope the healing continues for you.
I think it’s for the good when someone has multiple interests. Writing and cooking and playing chess, for instance. Keeps things interesting.
Hi Kay. See ya!
Neil Scheinin
It certainly does. I do have multiple interests but I cannot say that they are all passions. And I do think that it is our passions that change the world.
Very nice perspective, Kristine (that sounds so formal but I’m lucky that I remember it, at all). 10 readers is more like my stories, but I actually did say that even if one person read and liked it, it would be enough to write another one. I really enjoy the writing. Am I passionate? Not sure. But I need to find something because I’m getting full fast, and, as you say, the clock is ticking.
I think if you have something that makes you lose track of time-like the hours go by and it seems as if only minutes have-that’s a passion. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are jumping up and down with excitement. It just means that you can fully lose yourself in it and in that, there is joy. Wishing you that :-).
Sounds like a fathers daughter to me dear lady 😀
I found me in my healing, even though it has changed over the years from hands on to hearts on 😀
Great piece writer lady, I am so glad that the gift of your love has set you free ❤️
Well thank goodness you went to hearts on–that’s all the more to share with all of us:).
Why thank you ma’m ❤️
I absolutely love your description of a passion as doing something that makes time stop. I’d never thought of it in those terms and it is a genuine aha moment. Now I need to go tell the Big T who has been in the garage tinkering with his bike for hours (knowing he’ll think it was just a few minutes).
Thank you.
That’s the best feeling! When hours have gone by and you’re sure it’s just seconds or minutes:).
It sure is!
Malcolm Gladwell would classify me as a connector. I love doing that. Plus I have a proclivity for not keeping my mouth shut. I have a tee-shirt that says: “I’m A Simple Woman – books, tea, cats” Bingo. Another winner blog post, thank you.
I’ve just looked up Gladwell’s definition of a Connector and it sounds like a lovely thing to be! Add in books, tea and furry friends–and it makes for a great life, I’m sure.
I hear you loud and clear. There are a few thing that when I do them, time stops. Writing and taking photos. And with the world of spiritual awakening and healing having come into my life, they are a newer passion that will no doubt take my life to places I can’t even imagine yet. I feel like one part of my life won’t even begin until my son is launched.
I think you made a pact with your son on a soul level. And that’s its own journey. But, oh the things that await after that will be amazing, no doubt.
You sure are a writer Kristine, one of distinction. Have you written any books I (or we) don’t know about? If not then there’s a project.
Do you think it would help us organise our lives better if we were ‘switched off’ at a certain age – like in Logan’s Run or The Fixed Period?
Aw, Roy, you’re a peach:). No book yet. I have a draft of a first book–not sure if it’s meant to see the light of day or not. But hopefully an agent or publisher will see its merit. If not, let’s hope there are more in me . . . And your question is an interesting one! I don’t think I’d want to know my cutoff date. Would you?
Clearly, you’re living your passion Kristine. Kudos. I love the feeling of losing track of time. My passions seem to revolve around nature and photography.
And we all benefit from those when you share in your blog!
Thanks!
Writing is my thing, too. I remember the first (awful) poem I ever wrote, for my mom, when I was maybe…7? 8? I remember begging for a Smith-Corona electric typewriter for Christmas at 10 (I got it!). I love words. I love the way stringing them together just right can create something incredible. I love to read. I lose myself in writing- both mine, and reading that of others. Oh, and also? They have a kitchen sink cookie at Panera, and it is INCREDIBLE! 🙂
Well, now you’ve done it. Telling me about that cookie–sshhh:). But I get your passion for reading & writing and having read your blog, it comes through beautifully:).
Aww, thank you so much.
Love this, I too often have the feeling that time is short, I woke up one day and I wondered how did I get here so fast, I’m 72 how did they years flash by. And I love to inspire others through my writing, I didn’t start writing until I was in my early 30’s, but I remember always wanting books and searching for something. Thank you for this lovely post, your words are encouraging.
Thank you, Masha! You keep on keepin’ on. Julia Child didn’t publish her first cookbook until age 50.
See? I knew you had a post up 😉
So… back to that time business… Bloody hell. Like a toilet paper roll, the closer to the end you get, the faster that bugger spins. So yes, best do those things we like, get lost in, are passionate about without worrying if we have enough time left. We’ll read the books we will, write the stories we will, take the photos we will. Then we won’t.
When I have a proper kitchen (a girl can dream) I shall once again lose myself in cooking. Until then, I shall lose myself in reading, writing and photography… and anything else that captures my attention.
Always such a fabulous read, Kristine!
You are always so kind, Dale:). Thank you! And proper kitchen? Your new digs have one, right? You just don’t have it set up yet?
Only when it is deserved. 🙂
Proper kitchen. Not. As you know, I have just moved. And I loathe my kitchen. It didn’t seem so bad on visiting. Now? I can’t do a friggen thing. I’m already preparing myself mentally to have the whole thing redone.
Ooh, but that is exciting! I love that you’re making the space your own . . .
I want to do what my friend (who had funds) did. Her little home is perfect just for her. So, I am living within this one, thinking and imagining just what I want and will do what needs to be done to make it so!
For a moment I thought you were writing about me. Six girls, born to write, leave the world a better place, running out of time, parents with passion… It’s amazing though that the more particular the details in a story, the more closely people can identify. That’s a hallmark of your own writing. Thank you.
And thank you for the kind words:). I had no idea we had so very much in common!