Passion gives life its extra spice

Passion. It's a word that I'm, well, passionate about.

I think that being passionate about something is what makes life worth living and sadly there are people who go through their entire lives not feeling that way about anything. You can feel the passion someone else has when you talk to them. You can see it in their eyes and the energy they exude is palpable.

I've had the privilege of knowing many people who are indescribably passionate about something in their lives. Tom Vavrek is a young architect here in Whiting who is designing our new museum. He's one of those people who has found the perfect profession. Tom's creative, knowledgeable and definitely passionate about architecture and I can't wait to see the final design for our museum.

Most of my theater friends certainly have passion for the art. You don't spend hours and hours on a show as an actor, director or designer if you don't love the process. And like most artists, it's the project that enthralls them. It certainly has nothing to do with a paycheck because they do all that work for free. I'm always reminded of the theater community when I look at the framed quote above my desk from "Sunday in the Park with George," Stephen Sondheim's musical about the life and passion of French Neo-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat. The lyrics are "Work is what you do for others; Art is what you do for yourself."

John Davies, of the Northwest Society of Innovators, is a person of great passion for entrepreneurs and inventors. Part of his job is to interview people who will possibly be named as members of the Society. With each interview, he delves deeply into just what makes that person special because John understands and appreciates the passion that goes into coming up with something that never existed before except in the mind and heart of the inventor.

Last night my friend, Bill Halliar, and I were having a discussion about inventors. Bill himself is an example of someone with great inner passion. He's had a dream to bring together inventors whose passion is to discover alternate energy sources to power vehicles. Through hours and hours of devotion, Bill is going to accomplish just that on Aug. 28 when he, along with the city of Whiting, will hold a five-mile race for inventors using alternate energy resources to power their vehicles. Bill is very much like John Davies in his enjoyment of talking to and, more importantly, listening to inventors. After the race is completed, these inventors will meet in Whiting's Lakefront Park and people will have a chance to chat with them.

"These are all people with a dream and part of the plan is to give them recognition when they come here," Bill said. "This is a special talent they have and whether they've finally achieved what they planned isn't as important as the fact that they've tried and made that effort."

Granted the actual project is a little too left brain for me but I can't wait to meet those passionate inventors who come to try.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. She can be reached at puccini99@aol.com.