Passion huh…

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. ~Benjamin Franklin

Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night. ~Glade Byron Addams

I hated him with a passion so deep, sometimes it felt like love. ~The Quote Garden

I was listening to the radio this morning, as I do before work – I loathe breakfast TV as everyone is so perky and I feel in the morning, especially during the week, that’s just wrong – anyway, back to the radio…the question was what are you passionate about? People rang in between songs and talked about passion. This mainly consisted of the usual things - their lovers, family, cats, dogs, hobbies etc. I sat at the dining table/desk/chaotic Amarinda writing area with my 3rd cup of coffee and thought – what am I passionate about? I couldn’t think of a damn thing. Maybe I needed a fourth cup of coffee or maybe it’s too early in the morning to be assessing one’s passionate nature. Maybe I have no passion. Hmmm…

Is writing a passion? To me, no, it’s not because I realize there us more to life than sitting on your bum writing a book – there has to be otherwise you would have nothing to show for it other than a fat arse, glazed eyes and be mumbling lines of dialogue over and over as you stand at the deli counter – “500 grams of Swiss and you cannot possibly love me for I am from planet Zork and for our two worlds to touch means oblivion for our people...” Writing is more an obsession ro me. I zone out and forget to pay bills, clean – okay I don’t actually forget cleaning I choose to not remember it - and people tell you that you never return their messages – well I do when I think to check messagebank.

I think I’m too jaded to be passionate. While I feel things intensely, I do not let passion rule me as I like to be in control at all times. I insist upon it. So, I think I suck at passion.

Henny Penny the sky is falling…ever had one of those days at work? Eh…so the sky falls…someone will put it back up again and we’ll all get back on with life …people do panic about the smallest things don’t they? Or are they passionate about their jobs? How can that be? I guess if you were in a job where you were doing something to save the world then that could inspire passion but pushing paper and adding figures together bores me to tears. Though, I am extremely good at looking like I care, if pushed. The only thing that inspires me to excitement at work is 4pm when I can go home – get in my way and you will be trampled. I guess knock off time inspires passion within me.

What about you? What art thou passionate about? Yes, all the writers will say writing but tell me something else that inspires you to the point of excitement. Or do you think the whole passion thing is overrated and only used to sell greeting cards and self help books?

“I started out clean but I’m jaded, just phoning it in…” Bent -- Matchbox Twenty

They have started doing exercises in the office. Why? Stuffed it I know because it’s always one suck up person who suggests loudly to management that we all do it and said suck up only says it so they can earn brownie points - then they of course have to lead the exercise in order to look like the best-est person in the office. I spoke of perky people yesterday – now I speak of suck ups…you know the kiss arses that seem to be in every situation.

I am ashamed to say it but at one stage best friend Ethel was a suck up. She went all strange and management like. It was really weird. She went from this couldn’t-give-a-rats-arse person to someone who never gossiped and dressed up on theme days. My god! I was shocked when she first did it. I was astounded when she made team manager (mucho arse kissing involved there) and then not surprised when management dumped her like a hot brick when she was injured at work and she went for their throats. Ethel came gladly back to the dark side. Others choose to keep edging into the fake light of suck-up-dom…yes, I made that word up.

So, I get that suck ups want something. But can one really sell their soul for a mess of pottage? What is the cost of being a suck-up? Or do suck-ups not count the initial cost and just believe that kissing enough arses will get them closer to being the high poopah doodah or whatever it is they want to be?

Classic suck up behaviour from my experience….
- gushing when management comes into the room (non suck up – grunt and do the eye roll thing)
- getting excited when someone mentions role plays, to make us more effective (non suck up – refusing to do role plays because it’s against your religion and no one due to civil rights is allowed to query how.)
- loudly telling everyone that they have cooked a cake/cookies/whatever for morning tea (non suck up – while everyone is eating the suck up morning tea, raid stationary stores as everyone's attention is on cake)
- getting the boss coffee (non suck up – get yourself coffee and point out where the machine is to management)
- always being the first to suggest team get-togethers that they volunteer to organize (non suck up – offering to help suck up and watching suck up get pissed off with your over the top suggestions until it gets to the point that the idea gets knocked on the head).

Suck-ups...yeah, I have my ways of dealing with 'em.

So that was Friday and it’s the weekend and I can see all the possibilities that were impossible to see during the week. Work – is it pukeable or what? Anyway, as always the toe tapping twins Anny and Kelly are no doubt doing something of a toe tapping nature so go check ‘em out and maybe hum along.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?