I just got done reading Ashley Ambrige’s new e-book You Don’t Need a Job, You Need Guts. It’s an inspirational piece in the same vein as Chris Guillebeau’s Unconventional Guides. Both authors encourage their readers to do whatever it is that they are passionate about (though Ashley claims to be weary of the term passion). Every time I read one of these books I think, yeah, I can totally kick ass in that self motivated, self promoting, me against the big bad world way. Really, I’m perfectly wired for it… until.
Until I start trying to figure out what I’m passionate about. Ashley recommends putting your passion right up in the subtitle of your blog. What I have up there is the definition of the term “forge over” which, when it comes right down to it, is probably about as close to a concise statement of passion as you are going to get from me. [UPDATE: I have changed the subtitle since this writing] When I start thinking about what I’m passionate about I get nothing but paradox. Let’s delve:
I’m passionate about community, and fierce individuality. I’m passionate about nurturing a family (in a very particular way), and about nurturing my own soul. I’m passionate about being excellent in my career, but want to take a 2-5 year vacation right about now. I’m really uncomfortable with the thought of anybody “following me” because I think what is so awesome about me is derived from following my own beat, but I would be totally wrought if I noticed my stats declining.
So I’m going to keep mulling this over, to see if there is an authentic me that I can boil down to a subtitle. In the meantime I would be really interested in your feedback. How would you define your “authentic self.” If you know me (or think you do) how would you reduce me to a soundbite—this should be interesting. And until I get a nice clear picture of what I’m passionate about I’m just going to keep writing about the legion colorful and diverse things that pop into my head, and hope that there is an audience for that!