What are you passionate about?

[Irish_Tom]

These forums cover a wide variety of topics, and each sub-forum is home to at least a handful of people with deep knowledge and passion for that subject.

Although I have many interests and quite a few hobbies, my ability and understanding in each tend to be relatively superficial. I can get by talking to almost anyone about most subjects on a cursory level, but that’s as far as it goes.

I admire people who can turn their passion for their chosen subject into a viable living, but often there’s a lot of survivor bias when it comes to people who are famous for whatever it is they do, so I’m not just thinking of the top sports stars, celebrity chefs, actors and musicians.

I’m equally impressed by people who know every character and plot-line in a decades-old soap opera, for example. Or people who don’t just know the big-name players in the football team they support, but they know the entire squad going back 20 years and probably know more about the other teams in the Premier League (or whichever division) than most other fans.

So, is there anything you’re particularly passionate about, and if so, why?

 

[Irish_Tom]

Sounds like @GreatAuk, @Roff, @Martynt74 and I are on the same page.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing; I certainly enjoy having a range of interests and I love the phrase "knowing just enough about a subject to be dangerous".

Posting in GD.

On a more serious note, cars are probably the closest I get to being passionate about something. I would certainly say I used to be passionate about them and I'm still into them to some extent, but these days I find it hard to get truly excited about anything.

I know what you mean, maybe it just comes with age.

Something else I've found is that my free time is so limited. To really get into something, I would have to prioritise that one thing over all of my other interests and I guess because I'm not truly passionate about any of them, the sacrifice doesn't seem worth it.

@cheesefest's example is interesting. How did you become so interested in such a niche subject and is it a hobby or is it related to your work? Are you a historian or an academic, or are you just really into the subject?