We artists, of all makes & sizes, often refer to our life's work as pursuing a passion. Even our collectors, viewers and friends make that statement for us. In fact I entitled my book "Painting My Passion: An Artist's Journey with the Women of the West." When I make my various presentations about this journey, I like to quote Jack White's (a frequent writer for The Art Calendar magazine) story he has used in defining a passion. A wise sage took his student to the ocean and instructed him to begin walking into the surf. The sage said, "Keep walking even after your head is covered by water. When you are near passing out, remember that feeling. That's the feeling of passion." When you feel for something as strongly as you want to breath, the you have passion. Passion is wanting to accomplish something more than any other thing in your life.

In my book, I refer to another author who asks these questions when deciding whether to follow your passion: What do I want & why? For whom? For what purpose? How hard am I willing to work? Do I have a support system? What trade-offs am I willing to make? How much do I believe that I will get what I want? I then added the following questions: How strong is my will to succeed? What is my definition of success? Can I say "no" to distractions & detractors (trust me, there are tons of these)? Can I function alone? Whether you are literally alone in your passion or are surrounded by a team (such as Judy Chicago's collaborative artworks), you are the engine behind that passion. You are still alone. You have to believe you are the engineer of the train. If you walk away from it, the passion will die or drasitically go off track.

What would you add? How do you define passion? If you are pursuing your passion, has it been rewarding?