Passion doesn’t require attachment; it requires engagement
by Pace on February 6th, 2009 @ 9:35 am in
How To Be Awesome
Tags: iron pentacle, passion
In Iron Pentacle class, we talked about passion. My concept of passion is that it’s what drives you toward your goals, what ties you to the work you want to do, what fires you up or what nourishes you as you journey.
It seemed obvious to me that to be passionate about something, you must also be attached to it.
This brings up some interesting associations, because we talk a lot about how attachment can bring disappointment. It seemed like two sides of the same coin; if you’re passionate about something, YAY! you get motivation and excitement and all that good stuff! And BOO! you also get disappointment and frustration if you can’t achieve your passion. It’s just the way the world works, right?
Wrong.
To be passionate, you don’t need to be attached. You just need to be engaged. This blew my mind, and is so important that I’m going to say it again in different words and in bold. And heck, I’ll even change the title of the post to be this.
Passion doesn’t require attachment; it requires engagement.
Engagement. What does that mean? It means actively participating in things. It means connecting to them emotionally. You can engage with your passions without getting attached to them. It’s like loving someone without being jealous. You can get all the good stuff without the negative!
This is going to help me a lot. I used to have a pattern where I would get passionate about something, then either it would die down and I’d feel guilty, or it wouldn’t come to fruition and I’d feel disappointed. This led to me having mixed feelings about passion itself.
But now that I know that passion doesn’t require attachment, it only requires engagement, I can shift my point of view. If I notice myself getting attached to something I’m passionate about, I’ll think about it and see if I’d rather be engaged with it instead.
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14 Comments!
#2 Posted by 
Nina on February 6th, 2009 1:46 pm | link
So how do you go about that? Engaging yourself?
#3 Posted by 
Pace on February 6th, 2009 2:04 pm | link
@Nina: Visualizing the thing I want to engage myself with and experiencing it fully, with all my senses. If it’s an abstract thing, just experiencing the concept of it. Paying attention to how it makes me feel. Repeating the above often.
#4 Posted by 
Ellen Naylor on February 7th, 2009 12:33 pm | link
Hi Pace,
Great post with such a subtle change to engagement and giving from attachment and clinging. I never thought about that before and it’s really BIG. Thanks for sharing!
#5 Posted by 
Vicki on February 7th, 2009 6:35 pm | link
Thank you or this insight. I think I’ll find it really valuable in understanding my relationship to some of my current projects.
#6 Posted by I’ve been shoulding all over my passion | Dancing Geek on February 7th, 2009 10:12 pm | link
[...] passion seems to be the theme of choice at the [...]
#7 Posted by 
Amy on February 9th, 2009 12:17 pm | link
This is awesome. Blows my mind too. But it makes me feel a little better about some things. The problem I have, is I don’t get attached — and people expect me to. I tend to become overly engaged — I’m OCD — and become a little too obsessed about getting things done… When I begin a project, I’m very engaged with it. I’m very in love with it in my own way, but I’m still not attached. When it’s done, it’s done. And other people see that as “You don’t love me anymore…” when really I do — it’s just, well, I wasn’t attached in the way they expected I would be. The project was THEIR life, not mine. So… now I’m looking at what you said, which is something I’ve heard before that never sunk in, and I’m going to explore this from another angle. Hmm.. Yay! Awesome post. :-)
#8 Posted by Pace on February 9th, 2009 12:52 pm | link
@Amy: Neat! It’s like we’re looking at the same things from two different perspectives.
#9 Posted by 
Cricket on February 9th, 2009 2:00 pm | link
I get it, but I also don’t get it.
What are some concrete differences between being attached and engaged?
I want to talk about this more!
#10 Posted by Hump Day Reading for the Restless Soul on February 10th, 2009 11:34 pm | link
[...] Passion doesn’t require attachment; it requires engagement at The Usual Error Project [...]
#11 Posted by 
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome on February 11th, 2009 7:49 am | link
What a great way of thinking about it. In other words, passion isn’t about wanting (attachment), it’s about doing (engagement). That definite helps! I’m so glad Amy sent me over here!
#12 Posted by 
Janice Cartier on February 11th, 2009 9:41 am | link
I totally agree. Engagement is much more likely to be authentic and freeing. Like being very , very present . It is that engagement that IS the moment of true passion.
#13 Posted by 
Hildy Gottlieb on February 14th, 2009 8:16 pm | link
Thank you for this wonderful observation. It is so clear. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
Hildy
#14 Posted by 
scwizard on February 25th, 2009 9:37 pm | link
It seemed obvious to me that to be passionate about something, you must also be attached to it
Wikipedia defines passion as a strong feeling about something and doesn’t mention attachment at all. Wikipedia once again affirms its reputation as being a source of sanity.
#1 Posted by
Joely Black on February 6th, 2009 10:04 am | link
This is a really great point! It’s all about not being attached to the results, isn’t it? But engaged in the process itself.
Wonderful!