April 2023 Theme: Passion

For each month of 2023, I’m choosing a single word to inspire action. I did a similar experiment throughout 2020. Having something to focus on helped focus my attention on improving in a single dimension over the course of the month. Even a single word can inspire action, calm, comfort, and overall progress in a targeted direction.

This is the fourth month of choosing a theme this year. You can read about past months and how each of them went if you’re curious.

• January: Depth
• February: Garden
• March: Routine
• April: Passion!

So, passion? What comes to mind when you hear that word? What comes to mind for me is a deep desire for something. Being passionate. There’s no shortage of definitions of passion either.

1. Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
2. Strong amorous feeling or desire; love; affection.
3. Strong sexual desire; lust.
4. An instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
5. A person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.
6. A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything:a passion for music.

Definition

Reason #6 is the type of passion I’m aiming to cultivate this month. It’s unrealistic to feel the same passion for things in my day-to-day life as I feel in my relationship, but I’m excited to try moving even a step in that direction.

What does that look like in practice? I’m not entirely sure, but there are a few things I’m going to try.

First, I want to shift my mindset with things I already enjoy. There are so many things in life I enjoy, but don’t consider myself passionate about. I enjoy reading in the morning, but I’m not passionate about it. I enjoy having tea and a snack in the afternoon, but I’m not passionate about tea.

With a small mindset change, I think I could appreciate these even more – or at least that’s the hope.

Many things I’m already passionate about I don’t make an effort to cultivate. I love writing ruby code, yet I don’t prioritize it. I’m passionate about experimenting and cooking new dishes. I’m passionate about playing board games with friends, yet I rarely organize game nights.

I’m going to do some journaling this month about what I’m passionate about. Just understanding what’s on that list will help me guide my focus.

Understanding what I’m not passionate about will be less exciting. I also don’t want to change my mindset to pretend to be passionate about things I’m not excited about. Even if I’m mindful about washing dishes, that doesn’t mean I’ll ever be passionate about it.

How Did It Go?

Once this month is past I’ll update this section with my thoughts.