Our friends at Merriam-Webster define passion as: “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” I’d say that’s about right, and today, passion is something I’d like to write a little bit about. A lot of the time, when someone has a passion for something, others who are unable to understand or grasp that concept see it in a negative light; they say the person is a nerd, a geek, weird, strange, etc. But having a passion related to some sort of interest is one of the greatest things you can have in life.

It fuels you, drives you. It can open so many new worlds, introduce you to new people, new places, even new opportunities. Being passionate about something is not a crime; it doesn’t make someone strange. Passion invigorates a person and allows them to have something special in their lives that a lot of people might be missing out on. Passion gives people the chance to have a special interest that allows them to escape from everything around them in their daily lives. Through passion, we thrive.

So what are you passionate about? For me, I’ve got hockey and writing; to a lesser extent, I’ve got interests in going to the theater and Civil War-era history, but I’m not quite sure those have fully blossomed into passions just yet. But whatever your passion is – a hobby, a sport, a genre of movies or books or what have you – go with it. Let it drive you, let it move you, and let it bring you to new places, people and opportunities in life, now and in the future.

As Aldous Huxley said: “I want to know what passion is. I want to feel something strongly.”