I was on twitter and reading people’s updates about the Democratic National Convention in Denver. It was interesting hearing things from the multiple sides out there. What’s really great about twitter is being able to see a stream of conciousness from so many different perspectives as it happened. Disappointment, elatement, anger, and apathy. From the people who were updating once every 30 seconds, they all had one thing in common: passion.
I thought about how I used to be very passionate about politics. That’s fairly easy when you’re in college though. I could debate non-stop about all sorts of issues. Everything from major policies to whether gaffes in speeches were relevant. I blogged about conservative issues in 2004. I moderated several conservative communities online during the time as well and I enjoyed it.
Likes Versus Passion
Then I stopped caring.
Some may mention that it became very difficult to argue the conservative cause when a lot of things were not going our way (with 2006 mid-terms a stamp on that point). Nobody mentions the fact that it was still fairly difficult arguing conservative causes in 2004 and that’s when I hit my peak.
I contrasted that with what I am really passionate about currently:
- Good food, wine and beer. Especially the beer here in Beervana (Portland, OR)
- Being outdoors in tall trees and beautiful mountains
- Playing guitar and creating music
- Spending time with my wife, family and friends
- Football and Basketball season (currently watching college football)
- God and the fellowship of others who also believe
I made sure to think about things that I normally wouldn’t associate with my passions and added two more:
- Writing in general and blogging/social components specifically
- Human Resources as the most critical component of business
What Causes Us To Lose Passion?
I enjoyed talking about politics because I was good at it and I liked playing the consistent devil’s advocate. When that thrill grew old, my passion left it. I was not fundamentally interested in politics. There was just an aspect of it I sort of enjoyed. I can still talk about it and if you force my hand, I could talk about it enough to sound interesting. It doesn’t live up to my listed passions here.
Embrace Your Non-Traditional Passions
It is easy to be passionate about some of the great wines you can find here on the US West Coast. It is also easy to be passionate about sports (my neighbors can vouch for that). It is hard to say that “Hey, I really love HR.” I could go on and on about what I love about HR but this blog exemplifies both of my passions fairly well. I try to make sure my passion about HR floods through in every post I write. It is the difficulty in both writing and embracing it that I have troubles with at times.
How can you understand me through my passions? Hopefully by the fact that I have maintained a blog consistently about a very niche issue and that most of my blogging relates to the non-stop running commentary in my head about how HR relates to everything.
Lance Haun - Writer and Consultant on Work Tech 