remember passion?

So here's what was rattling around in my head yesterday as I drove to my Dr. appt. I got to thinking back to teenage years and remembering how cool it was to be passionate about something. You know, the kind of love for something that made you eat, sleep and breathe only for it, your whole life revolved around it. For some it was sports, others it might have been animals. For me it was Drum Corps and later marching band.

I hung out with my Drum Corps and band friends. We passed around scratchy cassette tapes of corps shows and music. No Top 40 on our radios thank you--we listened to concertos and symphonies set to horns and drumlines. MAN! What fun we could have had if the internet had been around! We could have had video clips of competitors' shows and just loads of wonderful stuff to download. As it was, we manged to spend hours practicing and creating a life around our passion.

We did that because, we were kids. We didn't have dinner to cook, jobs to be at Monday through Friday, sick babies to take care of, various household chores to attend to and don't forget that monthly task called paying the bills. We had summer . . . . . and endless expanse of days stretched out ahead . . . . . . and we had a love for our sport (Yes, it is a sport - don't make me trot out the study IU did with heart monitors etc. strapped to a drumline and a football frontline!)

Anyway I miss that. And I'm sad a little too that I don't see that passion in any of the kids around me. Not my three, not the neices and nephews, not really the neighbors, although one is a swimmer and devotes a lot of AM time to practicing. But she doesn't go online and follow a swimming idol or subscribe to a swimming magazine (Yes, there was, and still is, a Drum Corps International publication, thank you very much!) The only thing I see a passion for is electronic games, and it's just not the same.

By some weird quirk, the Dr. brought this up too. He has a son, about 3rd grade, who loves football. Watches it on TV - whatever is on, even reruns of games from 3 years ago! Throws up to 100 passes every evening with dad. Follows his favorite team and roots for them feverishly. Simply put, he has passion. Dr's wife is "over the football thing", and truly, Dr. is a little worn out by it. But, sees the value in a kid loving something and being committed. I think many of our kids are missing that, and I wish there was a way to turn them onto this fullfilling and I think, important part of growing up.

And the thing is, if they miss this window of opportunity, it will be gone. They'll be grownups with jobs and responsibilities and they just won't have the time to devote to a silly pastime. Oh sure, there are those who are grown ups and do that, just catch an episode of Dr. Phil here and there. But for the most part, the time for this pursuit is before you "Grow Up". And I'm not sure it's going to happen for the kids around me, and that's really unfortunate. They'll never know what a wonderful thing they missed out on!