You Share Your Passions

... and if you're not excited to talk or write or read about something it's because you don't really have a passion for it regardless of what place it holds in your life.

Professionally, one of my jobs is to try to make the culture of my organization and others more collaborative by using a social networking intranet. Some units are active, some are ghost towns. Some topics get lots of chatter, others are totally devoid of content. I've spent a lot of time wondering why this is so.

In working on the eulogy for my father, who was an outstanding story teller, I realized that his stories were really just an opportunity for him to share his passions with everyone else. He told stories because he loved the subject and wanted you to see how fascinating it was as well. That's why bloggers blog. It's why people go on Twitter and Facebook and all the rest.

Tim is a great example of this. Insects aren't his job, nor is photography, but they are his passion. That's why he takes all that time to blog. His site requires a ton of effort. Each post has fabulous photography and a good deal of research behind it. Those skills weren't picked up idly, they are the result of a good deal of hard work.

Motivational speeches are all well and good, but if they don't mine a vein of passion inside the audience, their effects don't last long. If you want to know why some of your colleagues are the CPGH sort - Collect Paycheck, Go Home - it's because their passions lie elsewhere.

Yeah, I know, this wasn't a particularly interesting blog post, but I needed to write it. I learn through writing and speaking, which is one of the reasons I blog.