The thing about passion though is it just is. We all have an inherent ability to explode with desire and I think we mistake these exterior forces for being the cause of our passions but in reality, they are only a confirmation that our passions exist.
For millennia we have had men (and arguably SOME women) telling us what to be passionate about. For some, it’s religion, for others it’s about economic growth, for an even more dangerous group, passion is about getting everyone else to live exactly like them.
What I’ve discovered about passion is that we start to degrade passion as soon as we start to try to rule with it, monetize it or fight with it. If passion is the purest, most powerful human emotion and ability; money and ego are perhaps the biggest energy sources for passion overall.
In Egypt we have a leader who is passionate about staying in power, without any regard for his populace who is passionate about seeing an end to his rule. His passion has been about control and wealth, his people’s passion has been about freedom from his rule. When we have opposing passions, we have war.
So if war is about passion, then how easy would it be to change the direction of that passion? What if suddenly everyone who was fighting became passionate about a resolution? Wikileaks has shown us that passion is achieved through brainwashing too. We now have soldiers that are trained to be passionate about killing people. We have misused the ability of humans to feel passionate and yet it is our very right to use this precious resource for good. Our governments don't want us to see what is really going on, becasue they fear our passions for ending the atrocities of war might overcome them.
The independence that was declared when the western world allegiances were forming was not about a passion for making everyone the same, it was a declaration of the beauty of our creative sprits and a belief that we could build great things if we removed all of the preconceived ideas and came together unified in our differences.
Pledging allegiance to some abstract symbol or ideal restricts our very ability to feel passionate in its purest sense, for passion in itself is our biggest freedom as individuals.
Passion should be celebrated and protected and should never lead to harm, exploitation or extortion. We should be passionate first about earth and the dignity and ultimate respect of every living thing. With that as our foundation, immersing ourselves in the passion of life can do no wrong.
We are passionate. We have an important responsibility to ensure that our passion is only ever used for good, not greed.
Wishing you a passionate week on our fair planet.