A blog for burnt-out human beings.

Sometimes we might think of passion as something difficult. Passion is also bliss. It is what you cannot stop talking about, thinking about, plotting to try (even if you fail). Bliss is joyful passion. It is grinning because you’re doing what you love, as simple as it is.

Lately, I’ve been pouring over book catalogs. Seems like a minor thing, right?

It is my favorite thing in the world these days (after reading and pitching my client manuscripts), because the more I read catalogs, the better I know the landscape in which I operate.

It probably doesn’t seem like a very blissful thing to you, but to me, it’s easy, it get my brain working, and I love kids books, so what could be better?

Find your passion. Make it blissful.

I am a firm believer in never settling.

This does not mean I am not grateful and that I sometimes have to accept that enough is enough.

But I really believe that good things will show up and that I don’t have to settle for good-enough. That what I really, truly want is allowed and I can reach for it.

I frequently ask my own clients to dig deeper on their manuscripts. I think it’s because I refuse to settle and I sign clients who are the same way. They want the absolute best for their own writing careers.

Not that their manuscripts aren’t wonderful, but I do think digging deeper aka never settling, when it’s appropriate, is a sign of someone who has passion.

Don’t you agree?

Do we invest in our passion? I’m not talking about a big amount of money. Usually, an investment in our passion can be as simple as a new pen and notebook. They are two of my favorite things in the world. A fresh notebook and a super cool pen make me feel more like a writer and editor than anything in the world. With them, I am ready to conquer the world.

Amazing how easy passion can be found. It doesn’t take an MFA and two years of your life (only if you really want it) and it doesn’t take a fancy window-lined office with wall-to-wall bookshelves (only if you really want it). If you don’t have the means to do either, just buy a new notebook and get a cool pen.

Seriously, just try it.

Or figure out what will help you feel your passion. You’re the best judge of that.

Invest in your passion. You need it.

We all fear something. Perhaps it is related to what we’re most passionate about. What we love to do the most is often the place where our deepest fears come from. What if I fail? What if it doesn’t work? What if this time something falls through the cracks?

I have a new saying. It’s a revision on the old “What would you do if you could not fail?” question we all have seen so many times. We probably have it on bumper stickers and coffee mugs.

New question: “What would you do even if you did fail fuck it up?”

I’m serious. What would you do? Oftentimes the answer to that question is your true passion, and often the place where your fears find their food.

I often wish I had more energy, or at least more hours in a day. (Don’t we all?)

Someone asked me the other day what I wanted to be when I grew up. (She’s 11.) I thought about it and realized that there were activities in my daily life that did not reflect what I wanted to be when I grew up.

What I spend most of my time doing now is what I am aiming for. Do I spend a lot of my time with my passion work? Or am I still procrastinating, stuck in that vicious cycle that means I’m believing my own (false) bad press?

It is an interesting thought. I think I wouldn’t feel so tired or wiped out after such procrastination if I just sent the email or revised the story. (Also, it is much easier to work on client projects. There is none of this angst attached.)

What are you doing today that you are aiming for?

There are plenty of people who think you could be less passionate about certain things in your life.

In fact, doesn’t it seem that they have intense passion that you let go of your intense passion? Just an observation.

In fact, I think we could do with more passion, especially about our deepest, most secret dreams. I hear a lot of people say: “I wish I could . . . ” and then continue to watch THE BACHELOR, AMERICAN IDOL, or TOP CHEF (which is actually fine, IF your passion is to meet the woman of your dreams on national television, if your passion is winning a televised singing competition, or if your passion is winning a televised cooking competition—or you actually do want to be a attention-seeker’s wife, a singing sensation, or a chef).

The thing is, most of the things people want to accomplish have little to do with broadcast television. Many want to write poetry, write a children’s book, record an folk album, learn Photoshop, start a business, become an interior designer.

We watch television to make us feel we’re passionate. It awakens the passion in us, and for most of us, quenches that thirst. Once the hour is over, we’re tired, we’re ready for bed/bath/wine.

For a few, including a wonderful singer/songwriter I know, this is how their passion is ignited. This person gets more passionate, more vocal, more daring, more mobile toward his dreams.

I think that’s what I mean when I say, “What could you be more passionate about?”