Discovering our passions takes much effort that requires us to break through obstacles like emotional barriers, lack of confidence, or unidentified passions.
At the age of eight I became unsure of writing while in high school because of the anxiety brought on by certain writing assignments that left me discouraged at times. Doubt tried to creep in until I found that I enjoyed writing for leisure - for fun, for encouragement, for self-expression, for communication rather than just for assignments in school.
Exploring writing for leisure made the biggest difference in my self-confidence to write more. How have you broken free of obstacles to move forward in your passion?
Leisure Writing for Fun and Freedom
The positive feedback I received on my creative freestyle writings in high school encouraged me to venture out and begin writing poems.
There are various types of poetry and a couple of my favorites are ballads and free verse. Ballad poetry are narrative poems characterized by their melodious rhyme scheme and can be any length with a series of four-line sections of rhyming. These types of poems allow me to expound on my rhyming skills and think creatively. I tend to focus on the words a little more, so the poem flows consistently.
Then, there are free verse poems that I enjoy writing because although it can include a rhyming scheme, this is not the primary structure. There are no restraints to this type of poetry, which gives me the liberty to be versatile in my expression of words and thoughts I want to capture and just have fun with it. In what way is your passion fun?
Leisure Writing for Communication and Therapy
When we have a passion, we are limitless in how we operate in it. I found as a young adult, whenever I needed to communicate with someone in depth, writing them a letter worked out best. There are times when I find it hard to verbally articulate specific thoughts that I want to share with someone. The words just don’t seem to form as well to communicate exactly what I want to say, but writing is a game changer. At my pace, I can really think about what I want to express. As I write the letter, the words begin to pour out of me onto the paper like water emerging from a fountain. Words spill out from my pen, pouring themselves over my notebook and my shoulders relax as tension flows from my body.
The interesting thing I have found is that sometimes the letters I have written would just be an opportunity for me to release. I would not need to send the letter to the person but would write as a form of therapy. Does your passion feel therapeutic to you at times?
Leisure Writing for Self-Expression
Over the years I have taken it upon myself to purchase blank cards to write in them for whatever the occasion and send to family or friends. Previously, I would enjoy going to the card store to find the perfect card to send to someone. Now, the blank cards permit me to offer my creative expressive sentiment for the occasion making the words more personal. The responses I get from those cards seem to be appreciated more by the recipient as opposed to a non-personalized greeting card. This encouraged me to venture out a step further in writing to others. How do you use your passion to bring joy to others?
Leisure Writing for Encouragement and Empowerment
Within the past few years, I have realized that writing out prayers is another area where at times words come easier for me rather than to speak them on the spot. When I have the chance to write a prayer, the words just begin to populate in my mind and they come together so seamlessly to generate a powerful prayer of encouragement. When I would read over it, I recognized that it wasn’t me and my intellect, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me as I penned the prayer. The recipient’s response is what confirms how impactful was the written prayer. Have you ever allowed the Holy Spirit to really stir up your passion and you produced some of your best work with little to no effort?
What does leisure in your passion look like for you? Cooking for leisure, painting for leisure, knitting for leisure, training for leisure…etc.
Have you found a way to freely operate in your passion?
Comment below or email me back. I’d love to learn about your passion leisure’s.
Sources used for poetry section:
11 types of poetry to know, with examples. 11 Types of Poetry to Know, With Examples | Grammarly Blog. (2023, April 13). https://www.grammarly.com/blog/types-of-poetry/
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