{"id":27352,"date":"2023-08-04T03:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=27352"},"modified":"2023-08-03T08:50:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T15:50:21","slug":"a-long-life-of-passion-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/04\/a-long-life-of-passion-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"A Long Life of Passion by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cA Long Life of Passion.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

I work with a 90 year old client who is very busy expressing<\/strong>, publishing and communicating with scientists and engineers about alternative climate change theories.<\/p>\n

He works on his passion every day.<\/p>\n

I am convinced that his passion not only inspires him to get out of bed every morning, but actually contributes to his health.<\/p>\n

At 90 he still drives<\/strong>, he lives in his home with his wife, he walks unassisted.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s that for a successful fourth stage of life?<\/p>\n

Bertrand Russell commented that the heart of a fulfilling life is the dissolution of the personal ego into something larger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things he\/she cares for will continue\u2026 I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible, has been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words<\/strong>, follow your passion, wherever it leads.<\/p>\n

Nope, this isn\u2019t the job thing, this isn\u2019t a work thing, it\u2019s a silly, unproductive, creative, engrossing way to spend the day.<\/p>\n

We all understand that a best life is not one devoted to the constant pursuit of income generating projects.<\/p>\n

A life well lived includes passion:<\/strong> for antique cars, creating the perfect cake, family research, it doesn\u2019t need to make sense, it does need to belong to you, fully and completely.<\/p>\n

When I have a little money, I buy books: and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes<\/i>
\n– Erasmus<\/p>\n

Writing is a Passion<\/h2>\n

If you are a writer, you have a passion.<\/p>\n

Writers are unrepentantly passionate about writing – anything.<\/p>\n

Writers wake every morning to journal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writers spend more money than they have in order to shove six more hard back books into already full suitcases (my husband packs an extra backpack, anticipating the books).<\/p>\n

Writers create small libraries in the bathroom.<\/p>\n

Writers haunt Friends of the Library sales even though we know we shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Writers don\u2019t get paid much<\/strong>, but\u00a0 we don\u2019t let that get in the way of the novel, the play, the poem.<\/p>\n

Words will always matter and what we have to say matters.<\/p>\n

And the hours writing is time well spent.<\/p>\n

Passion Keeps Us Going<\/h2>\n

To spend our days on a project that is larger than ourselves is key to an interesting (and long?) life.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the subject will route us on many detours, the highways aren\u2019t always complete, the roads are bumpy.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the difference between driving highway 1 and driving highway 5. (In California, highway 1 hugs the coast – treacherous and beautiful, highway 5 unrolls down the center of the state, fast, flat and after four hours, a tiny bit boring but you have another five hours to go.).<\/p>\n

A big impossible idea can lead to more nuanced questions and encourages larger dinner conversations that can lift you and your friends above the usual litany of health and family complaints.<\/p>\n

What if you are temporarily unable to exercise or participate in your passion project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, what if your passion is snowboarding but you just broke your ankle in seventy five places?<\/p>\n