The passionate heart

Passion lives here. Slogan from 2006 Turin Olympics

It was a busy, full day yesterday. Alexis, C.C. and I unloaded the car, sorted through boxes and such and discovered, I had forgotten a few of the 'must have's' Alexis had wanted. Her paintings, towels and a bag of clothes her sister had left for her to borrow. :) Not the end of the world, but for Alexis, somewhat disappointing. "I miss my paintings," she sighed.

The paintings will be shipped. New towels bought until the really 'good' one's arrive in a box. In the meantime, her little apartment is becoming a home. Her refuge. Her place of being at home with herself.

It is odd to think of my daughter living so far away I can't just pop the missing items into my car and drive on over. Odd to think her life is evolving here without my hand guiding her -- okay so I call it guiding she might have another term for it!

Yesterday afternoon, Alexis and I met with David Diamond of Headlines Theatre for a glass of wine and to talk about Forum Theatre, life, art and creating value in the world through being the value we desire to create. I had wanted to meet up with David to talk about some of the initiatives we're under-taking with the Possibilities Project and to talk about the process he undertook with Power Play: Homelessness while in Calgary the week before last. I also wanted Alexis to meet him -- to be inspired, to be connected to an individual who is doing in the world what she aspires to do.

During our conversation Alexis, wise woman that she is, said, "I know I can't change the world."

harumph.

Of course you can change the world!

Not.

I remember back to being 23. I believed I could. I desperately wanted to -- change the world that is. Changing the world was so much easier than changing myself, I told myself. Changing the world was a lot less scary.

In the many intervening years I have come to embrace the truth. The only change I truly have control over is within me. To create a better world around me, I must start within me.

Yesterday, I listened and watched my 23 year old daughter interact with this man who is the same relative age as her mother. She was interested, intent, and paying attention. She had opinions. World opinions. Ideas. Something to say that had relevance, meaning. She knows herself, very well. She knows her depth. Her strengths and her weaknesses. She knows what she's passionate about -- and being passionate is what counts. And, she knows she cannot change the world. She can create change in the world by changing how she expresses herself in it. Pretty wise!

Of course, I'm still her mom and want to make sure she capitalizes on every opportunity to 'make good' on her mission to change the world -- which I know, I know, is not her mission but mine. So, like any good mother, not wanting to miss an opportunity to educate my daughter, I asked David at one point, "So, if you were 23 and setting off to change the world, where would you start?"

David laughed. So did Alexis. They could see right through me.

"I'd start with passion," said David. "Always start with passion."

On our drive back into the downtown core to meet C.C. and a friend for dinner, Alexis said. "I know what I'm passionate about. I know where my passion wants to lead me."

Then follow.

Always follow your passion. Whenever you are faced with a choice, a decision or an opportunity, follow your passion. The rest will fall into place.

Passion.

In Isabel Allende's 2008 Ted Talks speech, Tales of Passion, she says that passion lives in the heart and heart is what drives us and determines our fate.

Heart.

The driver of great deeds. The driver of great people.

My daughter has a great heart. She has a greatness of being just the way she is. And as she expands and moves into being all she is meant to be, her greatness shines through. In her drive to dig deep into her heart, to fuel the passion of her creative spirit, she will change -- herself and the world.

And who could ask for a better world than that? A world of passion, driven with heart, filled with the desire to be the most amazing self she can be. And in that desire to be her best, she will create a world of the best around her.

"I know I can't change the world," my daughter said.

She's right. Like all of us though, she can change herself to be the most passionate person she can be doing what she is passionate about, what she loves to do.

We can all do that.

And, to change the world, to make it a better place for everyone, we must all do that. Follow our passions and express our greatness in everything we do, in every way we can.

Nameste.