From the editor...
Passion—Yours For Keeps!
Months ago, when choosing this month’s theme, I immediately began to write, in my head, what I would share with you on the subject of passion. Of all of the topics that I can speak to, this one is perhaps the one that I know the most about.
I must admit though that I had not always recognized passion for what it is. You see when I was a younger woman heading off to college, my goal in life was to go out and conquer the world. The interesting thing about that goal, however, is without consideration being given to using my innate ability or passion, conquering is in essence all that I would ever do. Never would I have experienced the joy of fulfillment and the satisfaction of knowing that what I did each day matters, not just to me, but to those who are affected by my positive spirit that is the direct result of living my passion.
In the beginning, my journey was a most interesting one, knocking down walls that I was naive enough and fearless enough to move out of the way. The strange thing though was as much as I accomplished, and as much as I was able to earn, without passion, more was never, ever going to be enough. It is a somber moment when you realize that the script that you have written and acted out so well does indeed belong to someone else.
It is during moments like these that you are forced to ask the tough questions and very often the answers are not what you neither expect nor want to hear. Despite my mastery of marketing and technology, what I had to accept was the fact that this was simply not who I was designed to be. The scary thing was the fact that what was ultimately my passion had been with me all along. I loved to cook and garden and have the ability design a décor with the best of them; and offer my abilities at a price. The strangest thing is that what takes most people years learn, I somehow already knew. And even now there are things that seem to just appear in my head almost out of nowhere as if it was a part of my being. I also discovered that I had a wonderful way of, as my husband has often shared, dreaming and painting the world in Technicolor with written words and speech and so sharing my knowledge through writing and speaking was what I soon began to do.
The journey to finding one's passion is often one spent meandering through fields of wonderful dreams and sometimes painful experiences. What I can share however, is that nothing is ever lost, that is if you learn the important lessons along the way. My days spent in the world of business have indeed served me well. It was, after all, my technology background that helped me to peer into the future, which is now, and know that I could create what is now the magazine that you are reading online.
Never would I have been able to hone those learned skills of my early career to create not only one of the best restaurants in the world (Wine Spectator 2006) and create and own one of the premiere inns in the country; all because I made the most out of where life had temporarily planted me, until I was ready to own my passion.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that hospitality, which encompasses such a broad spectrum, is indeed my passion and therefore, what I am supposed to do. Hospitality after all is the art of providing a welcome of warmth, kindness, generosity through a beautiful and nurturing environment, which in essence is my recipe for good living.
So how do you know what is your passion? Ask yourself this question, if you had to do what you think you love, and do it for free, would you? The good news is, in most instances you won’t have to. I should have heard my Sweetie when she told me years ago to “do what you love, and the money will come.”
And it shall my dears! Discover it, embrace it, live it! Passion is, after all, yours for keeps!
Deigratia,
Bonnie
