Why do you confuse passion with enthusiasm and why does it matter?
There’s a lot of good reading about passion these days. Search “passion” on Medium and you will understand what I mean. From “DO NOT follow your passion if you want to succeed” to “a life without passion is empty”. There’s something for everyone at every stage of their life and this is it; there are moments in life when having a passion is more important than others. Fooling yourself that you’re passionate when you’re merely enthusiastic, limits your reach to a much higher you. A higher you means facing your deepest pain and using it for the common good. Indeed, passion brings out our most profound emotions, the ones we tend to want to bury, whereas enthusiasm is more cerebral.
First let’s understand the word passion, what it really means. From the Greek verb πασχω meaning “to suffer”. Passion means sufferance. In other words, you can’t be passionate about something if you haven’t suffered. Enthusiasm on the other hand means “intense enjoyment” and “interest”; you have the knowledge and you share it with others enthusiastically.
From an observer’s perspective it can be deceptive. Can we truly know if someone is being passionate or enthusiastic? To date, I have entertained over 700 wine workshops, with over 9,000 participants who have taken the time to write a comment at the end of each session. The word passionate was used 645 times while the word “enthusiasm”, 22 times. How did my attendees know I had a passion for wine and why should I care?
To be passionate is a journey; a difficult one with a lot of tears and sufferance. So often, have tears escaped my eyes while talking about wine, forcing me to stop and recompose myself . A passion takes you deep into your heart, your soul and your past. No one can find a passion if they cannot recall their past. (Passion = pass-ion) (ion = allusion, related to your past)
Formula: skills you perform well and enjoy = enthusiasm / Skills you perform well, enjoy + relate to a difficult past experience = passion
Therefore passion is a combination of a subject you know well, have a great interest in and always look forward to doing. But it must connect with a difficult experience from your past to be a passion. And in my case, it was the loss of my Mother.
Long story short; after hitchhiking for 3 years around the world, I found home in London, UK. My first child was born and after 3 years of not being in touch with my mother, (that’s another story), I called to share the news that she was now a Grandmother. This is when I found out she had died 7 months earlier, from intestinal cancer. Can you relate to the feeling of having so much to share with a loved one, knowing they would be thrilled and proud to hear from you but getting there too late? Well, this event is the source of my pain and sufferance.
It later developed into a passion when I discovered that my Mother, who was an alcoholic, always drank the same wine. Being in the trade I had the wine analysed and found out there were over 900 added chemicals in this wine and many proven to be carcinogens. My Mother was only 47 years old.
In Quebec, where I am originally from, the sale of alcohol is controlled by the Government through a monopoly, the SAQ, (Quebec’s alcohol society). A monopoly is the exclusive control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service. The distribution of wine has not changed since the 1920’s. Furthermore, the SAQ’s selection grid, only allows 4% for quality. The SAQ also controls the media, so wine consumers in Quebec are unaware of the damage they are inflicting upon themselves through wine consumption. The size of the epidemic is equivalent to the 1950’s when everybody thought it was cool to smoke and as long as the government didn’t say other wise, they felt safe.
Had my mother been aware of the amount of chemicals she was ingesting through wine, my children would have their Grandmother in their lives today.
So there you have it, this is how you become passionate about something. And the bigger the hurt, the bigger the passion.
And why it is so important to differentiate passion from enthusiasm? Because this is one of the keys to happiness. I know why I wake up every morning; the energy I have to destroy the SAQ is unstoppable. Even after I am gone, I will succeed to teach every wine consumer in the world, how to differentiate a chemically produced wine VS the one that is not.
There are 2 important moments in your life; the day you were born and the day you found out why. — Mark Twain
Having a passion is an amazing experience. To live from your passion, is a rare privilege. Indeed, look for your passion but be prepared to suffer and from your tears, you will taste freedom and intense happiness.
Wine and Passion…
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A digest of short, easy tutorials to help you appreciate wines as an healthy habit.
Many thanks to Alison Logee for the editing and inspiration!
