Passions of My Life

Quote of the Day:

Everything presents itself as a lesson we are ready to learn. Author Unknown

It has taken me too many years to decide what my passions are. For a long time I tried to have many interests and spread myself thin in the process. With that many interests I collected too much stuff and it collected too much dust.

So, I have decided to narrow it down to the things that resonate with me the most. And in doing so will reduce my "stuff" to reflect that choice.

Announcing the passions in my life: Are you ready?
Knitting
Writing
Cooking
Travel

Maybe with this definition I can focus my energy and my spare dollars to just support those habits and not waste it on other things.

First, I will explain the knitting. It came to me just recently and I mostly taught myself the basics. I did have help from my mother (thanks, Mom :-) and from a couple knitting classes specific to what I wanted to knit, like socks. I am still learning, trying new ideas and actually finishing some projects. I plan to join a knitting group locally (first meeting is tomorrow evening) and try to find some like minded folks to share ideas, patterns and experiences. I have no real goals unless you call the growing list of friends and family who will soon be receiving really cool pairs of socks.

Second, the writing. I have played with writing most of my life. I have one half-finished, novel-length manuscript that I want to type THE END on this year. Who knows if it will ever make the publishing house rounds but I may try. I have been published in a local newspaper where I worked as a reporter for 18 months. And I was published in a little underground web publication called Venable Views. It was a small audience of locals and if you did not live there or read the local paper you did not get the gist of the rantings. However it was lots of fun (thanks, Victor)
And I was published with a three-part series story in The First Line magazine. It is still around and this year I plan to submit a piece for each deadline. Check out their website at www.thefirstline.com It is a really interesting story about how they decided to do this magazine.

Third, I am a great cook. No sense in hiding that light under a rock. I enjoy cooking and excel at it when I have an audience. I find it very difficult to get excited about cooking just for myself. I have a recipe book collection that makes most libraries envious. I have tried downsizing that and have no luck giving away any of my books, even when they may only contain one recipe I am interested in trying. This year my plan is to type in all of the family recipes that came to me in an old, brown wood recipe box. I understand it contains many of my great-great grandmother's recipes. My mother will correct me if I am wrong.

Fourth, I love to go. Anywhere, anytime, just say road trip and I am packing a bag. I also like to fly, even with all the new security procedures that are in place. Mostly my travel has been curtailed to mini-overnight getaways. Partly due to my roommate, Pedro (he is my beloved cat) and my lesser paying job that does not support my want-to-go habit. So if you know anyone who needs a baggage handler for their next vacation, let me know. I can be had for cheap.

More about these passions in upcoming posts. I will be writing for Helium.com shortly. And I probably will be posting articles there that cover one or more of these passions. May as well use these experiences to entertain and inform the masses.