Posted: 19 Jun 2011 02:27 PM PDT
Sex does it for a number of us, and that’s what most people associate with the word passion. Some of us find passion in work; some of us find it in involvement with something bigger than ourselves. Some of us get to a transcendent place when we are dancing the night away – connecting with the beat, with others, losing our sense of ourselves as separated from the environment around us. What are you passionate about?
My friend Jim says he never feels more alive than when he is out on the dance floor – shirt off, sweaty, glowing, his body feeling alive and juicy. Spiritual experiences are often felt in the body as a subtle connection between the physical self and the emotional self. It can feel hard to explain to others; we may even feel a little embarrassed trying to describe what we are feeling. Modern English doesn’t have good words to describe these experiences. Probably the best word is transcendence – a sense of moving beyond our isolated selves and into deeper connection with our entire self, other people or the world around us. We feel moved to a higher level. It’s hard to explain, but we know it when we get there.
So you’ve danced yourself stupid and you’re feeling blissed out. What happens when you leave the party? If everyday life is just a spacer between times when you can hit the dance floor, take a look at your spiritual life. Jim learned that he couldn’t order up transcendent experiences like he would order up a pizza. He found himself feeling depressed on occasion.
There are things we know about how to live passionately. Finding the right balance between living in a highly energetic state on the one hand and being well grounded on the other is important. If we live out of a place of being highly energetic but not too focused on reality, we will eventually crash and burn. On the other hand, living all wrapped up in reality but with little gusto is at least as bad; there may not be a dramatic flameout, but life itself has little exhilaration about it. That’s a problem for those of us who live too much in our heads. We rely on our intellect to help us earn a living; it feels like safe territory for us. But the intellect alone won’t take you where you want to ago.
Living passionately requires us to really be in our bodies. That’s why physical stuff like dancing, running and other aerobic activity creates that high sensation. We feel alive! Doing things that wake up our bodies can feel great and help us move past blocked places.
Creativity is another key to passionate living. Gay men are famous for creativity, of course, whether it’s cooking a fabulous meal or painting the Sistine Chapel. What do you do to let your creativity out?
Paying attention to the sensual world is another key to waking up our passionate selves. What fragrances do you notice as you read this? What do you see all around you? When we slow down and take time to experience what is going on in the world and in ourselves, we can find a universe of delight all around us. Slowing down isn’t always easy. That’s why things like massage or meditation help some men get in touch with their passionate selves.
Perhaps the final key to living passionately is to stop settling for less than we truly want in life. Understanding our desires isn’t always easy. Some desires change from moment to moment, some are hard to put into words, and some are, well, a bit embarrassing. That’s OK. Someone once told me, “The space for what you want in life is occupied by what you are settling for right now.” What are you settling for in work, intimate relationships, and the rest of your one juicy life?
Passionate living is much easier if we make a commitment to getting as much as possible out of life. It requires a bit of self-understanding and a bit of self-discipline if we are in it for the long haul.
It’s important to understand that while we may long for more aliveness, passion and ecstasy, there is another part of us that is scared of living life without holding back. That critical voice inside us says things like: Who the hell are you to think you could do that? You’ll probably die if you let go. Better to stay put and not think such extravagant thoughts. So that part of us tries to distract us.
While there are many ways for us to distract ourselves from passionate living, one way is all too common in our community: addiction. It’s one of life’s ironies: people use chemicals trying to alter their states of consciousness, but too often end up with addiction problems that make them less conscious than before.
"If we want more out of life, we will want to look at patterns that are holding us back right now."
John R. Ballew, M.S. an author and contributor to GAYTWOGETHER, is a licensed professional counselor in private practice in Atlanta. He specializes in issues related to coming out, sexuality, relationships and spirituality. If you have any questions or comments you can submit them directly to GAYTWOGETHER or John R. Ballew, M.S. - www.bodymindsoul.org.
-----thanks to Michael @ gaytwogether.com. . . .and to Brian
4 comments:
I once spent ages on the phone just listening to my friend's breathing. Was that passion or obsession?
There was another friend in jail 200 miles from where I lived. I wrote him every single day, and visited him once a week just to be with him for an hour. Was that passion or obsession?
I've never been able to figure it out.
I tend to see passion as positive. . .and obsession as somewhat negative.
What do you think?
Being passionate about the Third Reich may have seemed positive to Hitler and the Nazis, but the rest of the world didn't agree. So it's all a matter of perspective. And I'm still not sure of the difference between passion and obsession.
If you were to accuse me of being obsessed with my friends, I would agree. If you were to say I was passionate about them I would say I was an idiot. Hehe.
Perhaps passion and obsession are linked, and any difference is simply a matter of interpretation.
I think, Gary, you might broaden your meaning for passion. . .sometimes we have too narrow an understanding of meanings.
However, it's your interpretations. . I am looking at it from a common understanding of meanings, and degree of intensity.
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