The Problem With Passion

There is was again...that word passion. Lance was sitting in the upper deck of the Music Hall watching an orientation session for parents of new students at U VA in Charlottesville, VA. It was a sweltering afternoon and after guided tour of the Rotunda Building, Thomas Jefferson's legacy as Father of U VA, and a long walk down the green, Lance ducked in to this concert Hall to escape the heat only to hear the nice lady say that psychologists say the difference between happy people and sad people over their lives is that the sad ones followed their parents dreams, and the happy ones followed their passion. The moral was clear. Let your kids pick whatever turns them on and don't be a helicopter parent. Sounds fine but you could almost hear the parents around the hall muttering prayers beneath their breath like "Dear God, don't let them be an artist! Not for THIS tuition!"

God knows Lance was all about passion...preaching it, teaching it, living it. But he also knew when he used that word in a workshop setting, some people's eyes glazed over and they'd look helplessly back as if to say..."OK, just tell me what my passion is and I'll pursue it." That kinda misses the point. Others take it as a free ticket to do whatever feels good, over and over again, while avoiding the hard work of getting better at something. And still others do go out and do what they love, but can't make a life of it. For whatever reason, no one is buying their products. Clearly passion alone is not enough.

In Open Space Technology (OST), participants are told to pursue only new ideas where they have both both passion and authority. Its not enough to just love it, you have to know about it...get smart in it... before you can be productive. Lance had seen plenty of newbies come roaring into the the workplace with plenty of exuberant passion, but little stamina, patience or perseverance. If it didn't happen for them in the first year (sometimes six months!) they were disheartened and disenchanted. They didn't understand that passion (love of the what) is the fire, authority (knowledge of the how) is the fuel.

Driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway in the morning hours was downright meditative. No signs, fast food places, gas stations, businesses, or people (aside from a lone biker or Appalachian hiker now and then.) If you want to do some uninterrupted thinking while driving and not hit anything, The Big Blue is for you, Lance used it as a time to review the almost two weeks of his journey. Here is his list:

1) Small towns in the mountains (Pa, NY, Kentucky, Va and West VA are built beside a river and a railroad track and tend to be a 7 blocks long and 3 blocks wide because that is all the flat, non flood plain land available upon which to build. They all have a village green, anchored by fountain, a statue,or a war memorial (some have all three) and the people who live there will tell you, often in the same breath, how boring it is and how they'd never leave. Live music is a rarity except on special days sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce or VFW. Those special days will never be the ones you are in that town. BTW There are fewer diners than you think, at least on the local roads Lance used.

2) Ohio, on the other hand, is flat, uninteresting and painfully lacking in charm, warmth or welcoming community. Sorry.

3) Driving 2-3 hours in the morning, asking 3 questions at lunch, and exploring in the afternoon and evening is a formula that works. Lance would add a few notes, however. When you hit a town you like, check the listings and book a hotel before 3:00. Call it first for price and availability, drive by it for location and any "ick" factors, then drive in and check in. Dump your stuff, turn on the A/C, and hit the town for lunch and adventure. Blog either that night or first thing in the AM before you hit the road.

4) Food on the road is about entertainment, not nutrition. Not a good thing. "Perfect Oatmeal" at Starbucks and a banana for breakfast, a late lunch of soup or a BLT, and a dinner of an appetizer and a beer will suffice. Lance discovered that in week two. Chautauqua included three full meals in their package and it took Lance almost a week to detox from that. Never defer coffee in the morning, always minimize drinking liquids while driving long distances, and just because they put food in front of you, doesn't mean you have to finish it (doggie bags and hotel rooms don't go well together.)

5) Thank heaven for credit cards. Having a little extra credit on them helps, too. Lance also quickly learned not to use his special traveling name business cards with hotel clerks who just checked his photo ID and driver's license. It just confuses them. Instead, he'd save them for restaurant workers and others who don't care who you are or at least have the time to hear the full explanation.

6) WiFi is everywhere (except in the hills of southern West Virginia and on the Blue Ridge Parkway) and Lance will never pay for it again. It is now a God-given, red-blooded, American right! Ditto NPR and AT&T for the iPhone, they should be mandated everywhere. Lance now knows that if you take an iPhone or a laptop with you, you WILL check your email and Face Book several times a day. However, you don't have to answer any of it! That simple truth turned out to be more fun than Lance expected. Every time he hit DELETE, he erased the old Lance a little bit more. And if you got wrong number calls for a doctor at home several times a week, you'll still get them on the road.

7) Even when Lance could sleep late, he was up and out by 8:00. There's just something about knowing you don't have to get up that made Lance want to get going early each day. There was real excitement in not knowing what would happen, who he'd meet, what he'd think about that day. Breaking the predictability of his life may be the best lesson he'd be bringing home.

8) Most of the housing stock Lance saw on his roads were double-wides masquerading as fixed houses. America does not look like where Lance lives. A lot of America does not look like it does on TV. Much of America does not vote, worship or integrate the way Lance is used to. And judging from the radio, Lance now knows that God is an American, the Tea Party doesn't think it is prejudiced, and just saying NO is still better than fixing things for others. The Federal budget only matters when someone else is getting it and not you. Turning off the radio helped Lance's state of mind, immeasurably.

9) Next time, Lance would change the questions by alternating the live music question with "So, what's the favorite sin in this town?"

10) See? We're back to passion again.