Day 8: What are 5 Passions You Have?
I'm going to be a little different here and refuse to write out all my friends and family. Those are the people I am passionate about, and I could list each one and tell reasons why. BUT, I feel like I've given a lot of attention to the same people over and over again. (Not that I'm sick of them in any way...) I just feel like there's more to me than my husband, my kids, my family, my friends. . . . So, I'm going to stick to ideas and issues I'm passionate about:
1. Learning. I love learning new things, finding out more about certain topics that interest me. I love watching my kids discover new ideas and watching them get more curious about something. The Internet has made learning so much easier these days - with online references to check out more about things around us.
2. Motherhood. Since Banner was born, I have found myself in a whole new world. A world that can be puzzling, daunting, frustrating, and challenging. It's a world that will always be new to me as my kids meet new developmental stages, as my boys experience new dilemmas, as we enter new grade levels or make new friends. I will never be an expert, and that intrigues me in some way. It's a roller coaster that I have a new appreciation for. And, I have become passionate about this whole topic with other moms. Whether it's reading a mom blog or connecting with my mom friends, I love discussing motherhood and knowing I'm not alone, others have been where I am, and we're all in this together.
3. Feminism. I'm passionate about women's rights and women's issues. I'm not a male-basher, and I don't think women are better than men. I'm all about equality - for both sexes. I believe what is best for women is best for men as well, so it's in everyone's best interest if women around the world had as much respect as men, have as many opportunities and open doors as men, and were free to say, think, feel, earn, learn, believe, love, vote for whatever they want!
4. Gay rights. Next to women's issues, this is the other political issue that I cannot believe is a political issue. It baffles me that anyone, anywhere can dictate what rights are given to someone simply because of who they love. LOVE. Gay people choose to love someone, and they are denied marital rights? Or even worse, the right to be safe? I just can't understand it. I am SO open-minded about gay marriage and gay people living as openly and safely as heterosexual people that I have become close-minded to those who don't share the same opinion. No bible verse or religious opinion could persuade me otherwise, and every counter-opinion I have heard doesn't stand a chance against my logic. It is SO easy to support love, and it angers me when people think this is any of their business and say nasty things about gay people. I just don't get it. Have we not learned from history? Do we not look back at how "we" (society/ancestors) mistreated women or blacks or Native Americans and think "What were we thinking? How ignorant were we!?" I am certain that in 5, 10, 15 years and on down the road, we will look back at a time when homosexuals were mistreated and think, "What were we thinking?"
5. Capturing this time. As I mentioned above, I'm not going to list family as a passion. BUT, I will say that documenting this time we have together is! I am very passionate about capturing my kids' childhoods, to be their memory, to be the keeper of all the things they did/do when they aren't able to do it themselves. We keep artwork (or at least take pictures of it!), I have my blog that I publish into books for them, I keep their baby books (relatively) up-to-date, I try to take my camera wherever I can, and I make our anniversary videos each year. I just know that time goes so fast, and I want to try to capture what I can now. I know I can be annoying with the camera - and honestly, it kinda annoys me too! I'd love to just be in the moment more and not worry about the freakin' pictures! With two kids, carrying my big camera around is getting too cumbersome. And, there are times I purposefully leave it at home so I can just be there and just enjoy! But, I'm always glad that I had it with me to get some good shots of a fun time. I want the kids to see all the cool stuff they did when they were little - and who was there, and what they looked like - and what they wore - and how fast they grew - and... the list goes on. One of my favorite lines from a (very sad) song I heard recently is this: "I'll tell you everything. My heart wrote it down. I know every word." It's how I feel about being their mom - about being the one with all their history, their stories. It's a great responsibility, and it's one I'm passionate about!
*Past posts in this series can be found here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7
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