As Greg and I watched the one man play, Ben Franklin: Unplugged in Portland, I became fascinated about what helps clarify a person’s passionate pursuits. Ben Franklin, always a strong Loyalist, became passionate about breaking away from Britain after one devastating and humiliating circumstance. He waited several years to be able to speak to the Crown and to the Courts regarding the grievances of the Americans, but when he was finally called, he was treated with scorn, contempt and judgment. He left in a complete outrage determined to use all of his resources to separate from Britain.
A less dramatic illustration of how a person can find his passion was revealed by the playwright himself. As he was standing in front of the mirror one morning, he noticed he actually looked a little bit like Ben Franklin! This revelation lead him on a passionate journey researching this man, which of course lead to the current monologue Greg and I were watching. This playwright also soon realized that his passionate focus on Franklin’s relationship with his son was due to his own personal needs as he was wrestling with his own relationship with his father.
A final illustration of how a person finds his passion was when this playwright met the renowned Ben Franklin scholar Claude-Anne Lopex. He was surprised to learn that she wasn’t a traditional scholar who had accumulated many degrees, but had gained a respected credibility just by her own personal, avid research of this man. She told him it all started when as a bored professor’s wife, she wandered into the university’s Rare Books Section of the library. During a discussion with one of the professors, he learned that she could read and write French and he desperately needed someone to translate the letters of Benjamin Franklin during the years he was living in Paris, France. She says, “I really just fell upon my passion.”
Most motivational books tell us to discover our passions by answering two questions: What did you enjoy doing as a child and what activities would you gladly do without receiving any money? After watching this play, I think several more questions could be asked. What makes you angry or even outraged and do these emotions reveal something you are passionate about? When the playwright Josh Kornbluth looked in the mirror and thought he looked like Ben Franklin, he began his passionate interest in this man. If you looked in the mirror and believed you reflected the image of Jesus Christ, what would be your passion? As this playwright also discovered, his passionate interest revealed some of his own personal needs. Are you aware of any particular personal needs that could be clarified through a particular passionate pursuit? .
Probably what speaks to me loudest is Claude Anne Lopez’s success without the “required” degrees. I too often put a “cap” on any of my interests since I often believe I am not qualified. I also put a limit on my passions when I decide that I shouldn’t think about them while I am ill. Certainly how I pursue my passionate interests and to what extent must be determined by health issues, but the actual passionate interest doesn’t change. I am hoping that these observations will help me finalize my mission statement as I am currently stuck in Chapter 2 of Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles!
No comments:
Post a Comment