Fall 2006, I sat down, nervously, in my Theology I class at Biola University. I’d heard about this professor. He was one of the best…and the hardest. I was ready to find out why.
I expected to be handed a syllabus — it was the first class, after all. I anticipated the typical run-through of expectations, warnings against plagiarism, the daunting overview of every upcoming assignment. Instead, he said, “Take out a piece of paper.”
Oh no…a quiz. I hadn’t done any pre-reading. I was the worst test-taker in the university. Drat. Really? A quiz? I knew I should have read my Bible that morning!
“Write down two things you love and two things you hate.”
That was it? Well…I could do that. I wracked my brain. Should I go deep? Could I go deep? Or should I just stick with favorite candies? *Shrug* What did it really matter? I scribbled:
Loves: Imagination, snow
Hates: Traffic, crinkled paper
(Yeah, how’s that for depth?)
Then came the part that made poor little introverted me almost fall out of my seat. “Share them with the person next to you.”
EEP! I didn’t know the guy next to me. He jerked away from me like I had sudden B.O. or cooties. (Introverts, unite!) We mumbled our loves and hates — both of us had traffic as a hate — then I looked at my professor. He leaned against the wall, his hands folded in front of him, watching the class like a boy watches through the window of a candy shop. With each person his eyes lighted upon, his smile grew.
I was missing something. Why was he so happy?
Everyone else was glued to their fierce conversations, oblivious to the fact they were now shouting. A girl waved her hands and pounded the air with a finger as she shared one of hers. Everyone except for my introverted friend and me were still talking.
“I love it!” my professor hollered. I barely heard him over the roar. “I love it,” he repeated, beaming at each of us once we quieted. “That…is passion. It didn’t matter that you were strangers to one another. The moment I told you to share your loves and hates with someone else, your passion burst out of you. This girl over here got so animated, I just have to know” — he leaned toward her — “What was it you hated?”
Her cheeks turned red. “Black licorice.”
Everyone laughed.
That’s when I learned the power of connecting through passions. Even though I’d been shy and the student I shared my loves and hates with was shy, too, I learned the lesson my professor wanted to teach us: Be passionate. Love fiercely. Hate with righteous anger (not applicable to traffic.) And share this with others. It’s one of the steps toward intentional transparent living. (Tweet this)
He took us deeper than snow and black licorice. He shared his loves, his hates, and he wept while sharing them. I wanted depth like that. By that point in my life…I’d never even wept — not for something pure or something broken.
This professor changed my life — my entire thought process — within a single class. Now, almost ten years later, I’m sharing some things I love and some things I hate.
Loves
- Culture — discovering other cultures and the richness behind them.
- Imagination — the ability to create and discover the deepest levels of discovery to which our minds can go.
- Intentionality — being real. Being intentional. Seeing and pursuing the worth in all choices and actions.
- Tea!
- The endless depth to be found in pursuing God. (self-explanatory)
- Traveling (closely tied with my discovery of cultures)
- Books (duh)
- Grace — grace that people show to other people, that God shows to us. Grace, when really studied and understood, is mind-blowing.
- Compassion
- Nature — especially spring! When the flowers blossom and the air smells like nature’s perfume.
Hates
- Injustice
- Drama — like TV show over-the-top drama, especially if it makes it into real live
- Seeing people unwilling to learn
- The flippancy of physical intimacy portrayed in our culture
- Motion sickness
- Abuse
- When we get distracted by “political correctness” or “prejudice” and stop seeing each other as just…people. It’s really not that complicated.
- Negative Sarcasm
What are some of your loves and hates? (Tweet this)
That would so be me in that class. Hehe. I’m such an introvert.
Something I love is reading and writing. (Sorry I couldn’t put just one.)
I hate it when technology doesn’t work properly. That is the worst.
I would never expect you to limit it to one! 😛 I certainly can’t!
And I’m with you there — I hate when technology gets glitchy!
Your hates are ALMOST like mine!! ALL except that last one. 🙂 I love your passion to learn and grow. I love how excited you get to make or see others happy. I love how you are so open about sharing so that we can also learn and grow. I am grateful for God knowing how to encourage us to do just that. Like How He put you with that teacher because He knew it would have tremendous impact on your life! <3
I changed it to “negative sarcasm” instead of “sarcasm” to make it clearer. Sarcasm is almost always built off of some sort of insult or lie or something (at least the sarcasm I’ve been around) and I’ve never seen it build a person up. That’s why I included that one — I don’t like “humor” that is funny at the expense of others. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words! 🙂 It’s my joy to be authentic and connect in real ways with people! *hugs*
Love your writing style – it is engaging and brings your story to life. Encouraging for me too, as I pursue my passion.
Love – coffee, my kids, learning (and books!)
Hate – traffic, fish, intentional meanness
Thank you, Shandra! I’m so glad it’s encouraging. 🙂
LOL, I love that “fish” is one of your hates. That’s the thing my character in A Time to Die hates most, too. 😛
Nadine,
Although your post made me chuckle in several places, I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the very serious message you conveyed.
You see, I’ve heard most of my adult writing life (that is, since connecting with other writers), that a writer MUST let their passion guide their writing.
The problem is that I’ve never felt I was passionate about anything. At least not the kind of passion I assumed was being discussed. The kind of passion that would make me stand up in a class, wave my arms, stab at someone’s chest, and other such things. That just isn’t me.
That has led to the belief that I can’t write because I’m not passionate about anything (to that degree). It has been a struggle and a burden because I love to write.
So reading about this class and your responses to that first “pop quiz” have me rethinking my perception of what passion really is. It appears there might be a quiet sort of passion (perhaps what I’ve always called compulsion) that describes me much better.
I don’t have the courage (or clarity of thought) at the moment to just list loves and hates on this comment, but I think I’ll work on that list on my own. Maybe post it later.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how someone knows what’s truly a passion and what’s just a passing emotion.
Thanks again for the best post I’ve read this week.
Carrie Lynn Lewis
PS: That illustration coupling Boromir and black licorice is priceless!
Carrie,
Thank you so much for you reply. I’m so glad that it has inspired you to really consider what it means to be passionate in your life.
Just because you can’t pinpoint right now what you’re passionate about in order to write about it, just remember…you’re passionate about writing! So…write! 🙂 Passions flow out of who we are. I didn’t realize I was passionate about shalom until about halfway through the second draft of A Time to Die!
I think passions can be revealed to us. When I was younger, it helped me to make a list of even the trivial things. Then I started noticing soapboxes. My soap boxes (aka lectures no one ever wanted to hear in normal conversation) always ended up being related to authenticity somehow — I hated fluff romance novels (not-authentic!), or I hated seeing people content with shallow relationships with Christ, etc. All this then showed me that lack of authenticity was also a lack of shalom.
Discovering your passion can be a journey and process in itself. It’s okay if you don’t see it as a clear beacon right now. It is flowing out of you anyway. Other people can see your passions, and maybe they can help point them out!
Regarding “passing emotions”, I think there are such things as temporary passions. We can outgrow our passions. There are things I used to be passionate about, but now I understand them better and my passions have grown into something else.
If there’s passion about it — whether fleeting or permanent — I would never write it off. 🙂
Does that help? (I feel like I’m rambling.)
Anyone else have something to add?
Hi Nadine! I found your post through Michael Hyatt’s Facebook. I love your writing style, and this post has given me something to think about. Thank you!
Love: music, coffee
Hate: when people exclude others, winter
Hi Kathy!
I’m glad it’s spurred on thoughts. Thank you for stopping by and commenting! I also hate when people exclude others! Good one!
Thanks so much for the article! This is something I have been thinking about as a college student. I want a career that I am passionate about.
Loves: books, learning about different cultures, connecting with people (different than being around people. I am an introvert after all)
Hates: seeing people angry with each other, abuse, any injustice towards children
I’m so glad this article was helpful! College is a perfect time to really start identifying and pursuing your passions. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your loves and hates! I see passion in you already.