Comeback Post: On Passion

(Foreword: this is a modified form of a Twitter thread posted earlier. You could call it a comeback post, as I plan to write more here on a regular basis. Anyway, on with the post!)


Sometimes I like to go back to videos from 2012, back when I was really getting into YouTube, and I came across a few old videos from PBS Digital Studios' channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ZrUI7RNfI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO7tCdBVrA

These videos got me thinking, and so I decided to make a thread.


These videos (and others by the same remixer, melodysheep) always stuck out to me because they seemed to talk about having a passion or a hope for something that matters. Bob Ross and Julia Child loved painting and cooking, respectively. They put that passion into their work, and it showed by reflecting on to generations of viewers, young and old, who learned from them how to paint a lovely forest sunrise or make a hearty boeuf bourguignon.


Nowadays people are shamed for being passionate or even having a passion. When someone tries to be earnest about something which really impacted them or which inspires them to continue living when all else has failed, they far too frequently are shouted down by others who can't relate. Those who shout at them are often cursed with resentment.


Resentment and bitterness at being resented are extremely potent things. Once they get hold of a person's spirit, it's difficult to wrestle loose from them. When they completely overrun a person in mind, spirit, and even body, that person will exist in a perpetual state of anger. They fixate on the innocent doings of others, moaning that the beautiful things in the world are not beautiful by their warped metrics. They obsess over the success of others because they have no room in their hearts for their own success, since it has been choked up by wrath. Unfounded wrath which comes out of bitterness and resentment will feed on its host, and lead to nothing but more anger, bitterness, and resentment; and with those three things, violence comes all too often. The wrath of tyrants has been a constant force for evil in our world.


Given these things, how does a person resolve these feelings or still them? I cannot provide an answer which is entirely solid and surefire. Nobody is capable of that, I think. Yet, if I may offer up something, it is this: passion may calm passion if it is disciplined. What do I mean? I mean a person's passion for painting, writing, cooking, or study can help them overcome any feelings of resentment, bitterness, or wrath they may have. Being earnest and sincere is an antidote to one's soul becoming a vortex of self-consuming wrath.


If you have in your heart a passion--as I do for poetry--then put it to good use. Whatever you are passionate about, practice it and continually strive to become a better individual with it. Poetry has helped me with this many a time, especially when dealing with darker thoughts. Were it not for poetry, Heaven knows where I'd be right now. Without any poetry on which I can meditate or ruminate, there might not be a person tweeting this thread (which has gotten rather long. Apologies.)


My point in all of this is to be passionate. Do not let yourself be consumed by the wrath of those who have no passion in their hearts. If you are passionate, then practice your passion. Train yourself in your passion--poetry, music, martial arts, mathematics--and stick with it! This way, you will become a better person through your practice and your training, and you may even end up helping others realize their passions, which starts a chain reaction with more and more people! Who knows?


I hope you who read this understand, through all the length of this little sermon, where I'm coming from. Passion is a beautiful thing, and putting good passions to good use will dispel bad passions and prevent them from corrupting your life and the lives of those around you.


Have a good night, friends. Be well, do good work, and go in peace!