Of passion, heart and soul

Just the other day, I watched a debate. It was a debate between politicians. One was from the opposition side, bringing out points and highlighting concerns, emphasizing what action and steps that the government side should have taken to help the people.

Instead, they took too long to execute their actions and many people in the country suffered as a consequence of it. Apart from that, the actions seemed as though they were not thought through and they seemed haphazardly carried out. The politicians had other priorities in their minds and it was quite clear that it was not for the people.

How “exciting”, you may think such a debate can be, and quite frankly, I was thinking the same too. We somehow had the channel on auto play mode while I was doing my usual house chores when suddenly one particular speaker caught my attention.

I am not one who is drawn to political debates but this particular one was different. It was when this politician from the opposition side spoke, and my heart literally paused for a bit, watching the speaker in action. I could hear it in his voice and I could see it in his body language. He tried to be as calm as he could but he couldn’t because he felt there was so much the government should have done for the people.

At one point, he slammed his stack of notes onto the table, his voice and hands were trembling and he was very obviously furious at the rate that the government was doing things. People were losing their jobs; their livelihood affected terribly and some resorted to taking their own lives because they couldn’t take it anymore. The people surrendered and hoped for the best. If only steps were taken at the very beginning and if only help was given much earlier, they could have saved many, many lives.

When the opposition politician spoke, I could see, hear and feel the passion, the heart and soul of the person. It was overflowing with anger and it was clear that the person has thought long and hard, to express his points across as professionally as he could. The points were heartfelt, the choice of words, the body language was heartfelt and it was heartbreaking to realize how true the points were.

Passion cannot be faked nor can one pretend to be passionate. When one is passionate about something, it shows. When one pretends, it shows too. When one speaks, we can hear it in their voices and we can heart it from their speech. It can be of any topic and it doesn’t need to be a rocket science topic. But it can be a rocket science topic too if it is the person’s passion.

In all that we do, when there is passion and there is heart in it, it would show somewhat. We may not realize it but it does. And it is passion that drives us to go beyond, to reach beyond our boundaries and to achieve our goals.

When I watch documentaries on how ordinary people went above and beyond to do what they love, facing all challenges head on and having all the patience to overcome it all, for themselves, for their family, for their love in what they do, I would cry silently listening to their stories. There is just so much love they have in the things they chose to do and their goals are usually simple and straightforward.

In cases where artists, musicians, athletes, putting all their hours in practice, their hearts and souls in achieving their dreams or in cases when people reach out to others, sacrificing all they have to help others, it totally breaks me but in a good way. I am a sucker for stories like these and I love reading, watching and listening to them, especially when I learn that things have not been easy for them and the hardships they go through to achieve them. Stories like these are so inspiring.

When one sings, or when one plays a musical instrument of their choice, just watching them, we could feel their passion. It is wonderfully frightening sometimes to watch how immersed they are in their performances. You know the kind where they would close their eyes as though they are being transported to a different world altogether. Usually I would have goose bumps and sometimes, I would cry too. How powerful one can be by their voices and their talent.

I think it is the same when it comes to writing.  When I read an article, I find myself drawn to articles or posts that are heartfelt and written like it was spoken, nothing too official and nothing formal. It may well be a short story, an experience, a novel, a fiction, a tutorial, a biography, a description or just a simple comment. It may be a life story, a technical paper, an introduction to something the person believes in or a simple sharing of one’s experience.

It is the kind of writing that makes my heart skips a couple of beats or the kind that pauses the heart or pumps the heart to beat faster, the type of writing that can be felt as though they are truly guiding you every step of the way in their article, not a mere step by step manual.

When one writes from the heart and with passion, be it of love or anger or anything of any sorts, as a reader, I think most of us can feel it. It need not be a complicated topic, nor need it have bombastic words. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t understand most bombastic words. I would need to look for the word in dictionary each time and it can get pretty tiring to do that each time.

It is not pretentious. It is just plain and simple, coming from the heart to the blank sheet for which the article was typed in or written on, something written passionately from the heart and soul of one to another.