Passion and Pain and People.

All my life I have been haunted by the obsession that to desire a thing, or to love a thing intensely, is to place yourself in a vulnerable position, to be a possible, if not a probable, loser of what you most want - Tennessee Williams

He had a point. Like they say - the great loves are the crazy ones. L'amour fou

It's hard to think of great passion without great pain. If you love something, someone, someplace - you are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them in your life. Even if it means pain. Because that's how much it is worth.

This isn't limited to love and people. It extends to a wide range of passions. People who trek miles through desert for that perfect picture. Writers who stay up all night, eyes dry and back aching. Dancers who push through aching muscles.

But here is the catch. Like Tennessee Williams says - when you love something that much, you place yourself in a very scary place. If what you love goes away - the pain is unmatched. If you are a singer and you lose your voice, a writer and you lose your words, a painter and you lose your vision - you lose your soul.

Passion comes with pain, and as people we struggle to accept that. But here is the thing - your passion is what you are. It is who you are. It makes you tick. And no one can take that away from you. They can't take away your essence. You may never write again - but what you have written will always be there. You may never paint again - but the pictures you have done will always exist.

Strive to be great, strive to push beyond the pain. Because after all, maybe it will go away - but what has been created will always exist.

And who wants to live life on a 'maybe'?