catapult magazine

A wise person once told me that a wise person once told them to “make a list of the things you are most passionate about and do (like as an occupation) the second thing on that list.”

This makes sense to me, because it seems like people lose passion for something when it becomes a “job”—their “bread an’ butter”—a way to survive. Your “passion” becomes stressful, full of pressure to succeed or at least survive. So instead you do something you have passion for—but you keep that first thing special. Something you “get” to do at times, instead of somthing you “have” to do everyday.

I haven’t actually tested this yet, so I’d like to know if there is anyone out there following this little advice, or anyone who isn’t but wish they were. Or someone doing what they are most passionate about and loving it.

Oh, definitely. The beginning of this web site grew out of that kind of decision to follow a passion, even if that meant foregoing a steady paycheck at a job where you just put in your time.

After teaching one year in middle school, I decided that I needed to do what I was most passionate about. That first summer was the beginning of “the summer of Grant” which is now three years and counting. I must admit that I long for a steady job with a consistent income, but I just decided that I need to find a way to make money doing what I love. So far I’ve been able to help make *cino a reality, sustained a rock band (once a week trips two hours away for a labor of love), and finished a program in philosophy. It has been a sacrifice at some levels, with all the over-working and trying to keep healthy relationships with wife, friends, family, etc., but it is (or someday will be) rewarding.

Teaching high school is the most fun , the most challenge, the most rewarding, and the most risky thing I have ever attempted. I love it more than teaching college, writing (I worked as a corporate writer for a while), editing, managing, doing youth ministry, and more than anything else I have ever done (though I enjoyed all those jobs to some extent).

I have been teaching high school for seven years (this fall will begin my eighth.) Frequently in the middle of the school day, when I am walking through the halls (this is going to sound so dorky — but it is true) I smile to myself and can’t believe that I am doing this job.

The interesting thing to me is that I think I would not love my calling nearly as much if I had not tried other things first. I searched for where God wanted me for a while. I needed that searching to appreciate what I really had when i found it.

I am also passionate about my God, my wife and family, reading, snowshoeing, and digging in the sand.