It's About the Journey

124 • 6/01/2026

I have spent the better part of my life reading books about—and searching for—passion without much success, or so I thought.

You name just about any self-help guru, and I have probably read them. Actually, more than I can even remember.

I have gone this way and that, always looking for what I was “meant to do.” It wasn’t until a few years ago as I was talking with a friend about this topic.

He suggested I take a look at what I have done during my (at that time) 65+ years on this planet. “Add it all up and see what comes out on top,” he said. I thought that was a fairly simplistic view of a life and a mission.

At the time I considered it a waste of time.

If I hadn’t found my passion by now, how would I find it by going over what I had already done? It seemed like a useless task.

Never-the-less I gave it a try. I made a list of a few dozen meaningful things I had done. We will only be talking, here, about things we do that round out our lives. Not the jobs. Not the family (although I have been blessed with 2 great sons!). What I am writing about is the things we do throughout our lives seemingly without knowing we are doing them. Some would call them hobbies. Some say it’s about things we will do when we “grow up.” It could be the source of the light at the end of the tunnel.

I would like to add it’s about going deep into something that gives us satisfaction and a deep appreciation for finding this gem. It is the inner light that serves to keep us moving along life’s path.

Here’s what I came up with after searching my archives, my sometimes faulty memory, and a few journals:
• Hiking
• Cycling
• Writing/poetry
• Music
• Bottle/Coin Collecting
• Photography
• Sports
Is that enough?

I hope so!

I went over the list with my friend, and he asked me questions about each, when the final question made me stop and think.

I had my answer!

“Of this list which ones have you been doing consistently without much thought or effort,” he asked. It took a few moments, but when I realized the answer… I had my answer.

“That’s easy,” I said. “It’s a no brainer... photography and writing.” Imagine going through a life without much direction only to discover that you already found your “passion.”

I had never had a singular passion. What I did have, however, was curiosity and creativity. That was and is what drives me. It seems as though every part of my life has involved either or both of those activities.

As I wrote above, many books have been written about the search for passion. Each one of them offers similar techniques and guidelines. There have been movies. Songs. Lectures. College courses.

The discovery

My most compelling discovery came when I realized it wasn’t about one specific thing. It was actually a compilation of several things:
• A desire to share my knowledge
• Create a life of contribution
• Build rewarding relationships though creativity
• Continue to live a life of curiosity

Without even realizing it at the time my friend and I were talking, our discussion set the course for the rest of my life. Most of that has involved either writing or photography, or a combination of both.

I never saw him again, but I have been blessed and for that I am continually grateful.

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Please pass this along to others of like mind. We do need to spread the positivity around! Know that I will be working hard to make the starter better with each issue. It will come into your inbox at 8am, each Monday morning. Comments are always welcomed! Enjoy!

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“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.” Rumi

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Life Worth Wanting | David Brooks: “We know a lot about emotion, but desire remains strangely mysterious. What shapes it? Where does it come from? As Augustine proposed, we are not primarily thinking beings—we are desiring beings. What we want is the most important thing about us. That gleam, the desire to make a difference, is something every person can carry, not just for a season, but for a lifetime.

“Desire isn’t just a feeling, but a fundamental human trait. Brooks reaches back to early humans, tall and underdeveloped in brain power, did something extraordinary: they wandered. Without roads, maps, or clear reasons beyond survival, they traveled thousands of miles across continents. That impulse to go somewhere—to move toward something unseen—reveals what Brooks sees as a foundational human trait: a deep, innate longing to explore, to discover, and to go beyond the horizon.” ©David Brooks/Westmont.edu

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What Makes a Good life? | Dr. Robert Waldinger: What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken. As the director of 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.©TED, Robert Waldinger (ed. This is such a good video. Yes. I watched it twice prior to posting it, here. It really made me think about one thing I missed in my previous life. Hmmmnm? Do I feel an essay brewing? )

• P.S. If you would like to watch an hour-long video of Waldinger being interviewed on the same subject, by Mel Robbins in 2024, click here. That’s about one-year after the above video.

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Shadow & Light Magazine Archives | Frang Dushaj, Night Walk: “Frang Dushaj’s images capture the landscape in a way that inspires us. Their beauty filters out the noise and clutter of everyday life. His craft and his eye take us on a journey to those far away places, that might just be at our own back door, if only we take a moment to look.” (Each photographer featured in this section has been published in Shadow & Light Magazine.) Image ©Frang Dushaj | text ©Rfotofolio, San Francisco, US

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Poetics | Elizabeth Alexander: Elizabeth Alexander’s careful, precise poetry and her awareness of history, especially African American history, as well as her personal friendship with the Obamas, made her a natural choice as President Obama’s inaugural poet. Alexander became only the fourth poet ever asked to read at a presidential inauguration, and her poem, “Praise Song for the Day” was heard and watched by billions worldwide. (ed. I remember watching her read that poem at Obama’s inauguration. Here’s a link, if you want to watch it, for the memory.)

I Believe

Poetry, I tell my students,
is idiosyncratic. Poetry

is where we are ourselves
(though Sterling Brown said

“Every ‘I’ is a dramatic ‘I’”),
digging in the clam flats

for the shell that snaps,
emptying the proverbial pocketbook.

Poetry is what you find
in the dirt in the corner,

overhear on the bus, God
in the details, the only way

to get from here to there.
Poetry (and now my voice is rising)

is not all love, love, love,
and I’m sorry the dog died.

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)
is the human voice,

and are we not of interest to each other?

©Elizabeth Alexander

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