Tag Archive for: 2020

2020: My Phrase of the Year in Review

For those of you who followed my blog at the beginning of the year I announced my phrase of the year, which is linked below.

Because, obviously all of you remember it, let’s say it together, with charisma: SHOW ME SOME (FLUFFY) PASSION!

It was quite a good one if you ask me. 

As this year is coming to a close, I figure it’s time to review my phrase and how I applied it throughout the year. However, this year wasn’t quite like other years. So…

Like much of the world, I spent plenty of time in lockdown doing my part to save my little piece of the world by staying at home. Of course, like many others I spent a lot of that time with my good friend, Netflix. The selection of shows on New Zealand Netflix is pretty good! 

If Netflix was my passion, I followed it down every genre they offer.
Thankfully, I have more passions than Netflix.

Other things I did while the world was in timeout include creating a photography studio. Studio KBC, as I like to call it, started because of a flood. After a series of hard rainy days in Christchurch, the room I was living in with five other individuals began to flood. Eek! 

As I helped empty bag after bag out of the room, we were all grateful to see nothing of consequence was ruined by the water. When we took out the carpeted tile pieces on the ground, I began to see how empty the room was. Then I noticed the room was quite long as well. This triggered an idea for me. 

You see, a month or two before this, I called, emailed, and stopped by a local photographers office for a job. It was a studio gig that I was excited about purely because the idea of working in a studio is an experience I lack. Despite my persistence, I didn’t get the position. 

Ultimately, in a phone conversation the photographer told me my photos lack creativity. 

And I took that personally! 

As I stood in the empty wet room, I thought to myself, this is my studio. The water was drained, but no one was allowed to live in there any longer. I took the opportunity to find all the black sheets and blankets in the hostel. Then I found all the clips and I wasn’t offered the job in the studio, but I was going to make my own. 

Creativity is my passion. I was definitely on track here.

Oh, I didn’t stop there. During the six weeks, I emailed about 300 different companies, yes, 300, asking them if they were in need of a photographer. You know how many decided to hire me? Guess!

Zero. Literally None. 

Did that deter me? No. Alright, maybe a little, but I’m a resilient person. 

Turns out, the hostel I was living in enjoyed the pictures I posted on my personal instagram and offered me an opportunity to do the same for them. The owner then introduced me to other companies who needed a photographer and web designer for their company. I showed myself some fluffy passion, and became a travel photographer. Something that was only a dream for such a long time. 

My vocation as a photographer is a passion and I followed through on it.

I didn’t only have passion in my professional life. I showed some passion in my spiritual life as well. Previous to the pandemic, I attended a great little church in Christchurch. They were a giving church, always trying to help the people in their city. I loved it. 

However, someone else told me about a church called Majestic. I searched for them on instagram. Cuz bruh, its 2020, and that’s a new standard for me when looking at churches. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the most creative content I’ve seen in New Zealand. Not just for a church or organization, but just in general. Whoever does it for them there, does a fantastic job. I also saw that they were going to have Erwin McManus as a guest speaker. Mr. McManus is the pastor of Mosaic church in Hollywood that I listen to very often. After seeing that, you could call me a fish, because I was hooked! 

I sincerely apologize for that pun. It was bad, very bad. 

When I arrived I met artists. Plenty of them. Photographers, dancers, performers. I was in a haven for children who wanted to explore hip hop, young people who wanted to sing, and adults who wanted to create murals. It was amazing to see a church be so creatively forward. It was almost like the catholic churches of hundreds of years ago. The ones with major stain glass and sculpture work, except in a modern society.

My faith is my passion. So yes, I showed my passion there too.

I only found this church because I pursued my passion. The commitment to the pursuit of it showed me something new in multiple areas of my life. That’s what following a passion does.

Passion leads you to the unexpected.
Passion shows you what you didn’t know existed.
Passion takes you where you didn’t know you needed to be. 

In a year where so many things have happened, none of which went as we may have expected, I was able to thrive in this pursuit. I showed plenty of fluffy passion this year. Though, if I’m honest, I feel like I could have shown more passion on some days. However, I’m happy with that which I’ve shown. 

I can move into 2021 more confident in my ability to show passion than I was a year ago. 

Now…time to think of a new phrase. 

2020 Phrase of the Year

Apparently it’s common for people to have a word or phrase of the year.

I’m big on goals for the year, you’ll see a vlog on that later, but a phrase that is supposed to represent you for an entire year. That’s intriguing.

I think it’s a neat idea. You can run big decisions of the year through the filter of the word or phrase. It would help a people keep focused on their phrase of “positivity”, “community”, or any other word they might.

I assume people take a lot of time to thoroughly ensure they have the right word for this point and time in their life.

Alright, I picked mine. Drum Roll Please!

2020 Phrase of the Year: Show Me Some (Fluffy) Passion!
(PG edit because my nephew is 6, and I like to imagine he is an avid reader of his uncle‘s blog.)

Long ago, I read a person’s comment on Reddit about something that changed their life.

Technically, not something, rather, some words. 

They decided they would post the words Show Me Some (Fluffy) Passion in their house. If my memory serves me right, they posted it in their bedroom so they could see it every day.

Each day they woke, read the words reminding them to show passion.

The redditor mentioned after some time, they noticed change in multiple areas of their life.

Work changed because they were reminded to show the passion that once earned him the job. Married life changed because they showed the passion felt instead of letting it sit. Their life changed because they started looking for things they were passionate about and pursuing them.

Humor me for a moment, as I dive into the phrase.

Show Me

Every 20-something year old with a guitar will tell you they’re passionate about music. Others may talk about the outdoors, social justice, and community as their passion.

In many cases, a 30-something year old passion may have live a life directly impacted by their passions. Or they could be discovering their passion for the first time. (I’m a year away from my thirties, and I’m in many ways just learning and pursuing my passions.

For most people 40’s and above family life has really kicked in gear, and the passion of old isn’t the same. It’s changed direction.

The point of the Show Me, is to prove it. A stranger should be able to walk into your life, follow you for a day/week/month and at the end of it say, “You’re passionate about music/family/money.”

To say you’re passionate about a topic is one thing. To go out there and show it is entirely different.

 

Some

We have the ability to be passionate about a lot of things. What we don’t have is the capacity for showing our full passion in every single category. There’s just not enough time in the day. That’s why some is so important.

Choose a few of your passions to focus on. Some of them will pan out into something greater! Which is very cool. Some of them will not. No worries, a passion doesn’t have to equal a business or amazing performance. If you decide a passion is done, cool, we have another passion that can take its place.

Show some of your passion daily. If your passion is dog walking, Don’t spend 10 hours on dog training once and then be over it for a month. Show some today, some the next day, next week, next month. Get in the habit of continually showing some.

Plan to show it.
Make time on the calendar for it.
When you have free time, study it.

Put some effort into your passion. Otherwise, your passion is just a wish.

 

 

If you’re passionate about music make the best music you possibly can. Then grow in the passion and learn more. Get better.

If your job is your passion, walk into work and show yourself. Make you believe again, you are passionate about what you do.

When your passion has a new focus, devote yourself to it. If your passion is those around you, show passion for family by changing as they change. By loving them where they are as they grow to find and chase their passion.

Showing passion isn’t an extravagant moment. It’s daily. It’s a grind. It’s hard.

It’s not going out with the boys because you want to get one more shot of the night sky. It’s not finding ways to leave work early, but learning ways to better employment. It’s learning the more about why the heck your child is excited about seeing a penguin in Minecraft.

 

 

(Fluffy)

Now, I shouldn’t have to explain what this word really was when the person wrote it. It’s what I like to call a “heightening” word.

It emphasizes anger, excitement, disappointment, shock, horror. It takes the feelings of wherever its placed to the next level.

Some of you need to add more fluffy to your pursuit of passion. Heighten your pursuit. Go to the next level. Don’t stay in one spot with your passion, until it’s time to set the passion aside.

So seek help. In our Information Age, there are too many resources available for you to stop learning.
Google exists.
YouTube exists.
Pinterest exists.
The information is ripe for your picking. Go out there a fluffy do it!

Get on yourself and do it. Amp yourself up.  Heighten your focus. Get in there and fluffy work.

Passion.

Passion is like abs. You have them. You can’t tell me you don’t, because all of us do. Some of us are just learning where they are and how to show them. Others of us have been showing them off for years and posting pictures on Instagram of them. Some of us forgot we have them when we stopped pursuing them and lost them under thick layers of laziness.

Nevertheless, our abs and passion are there.

 

So this is my 2020 Phrase of the Year: Show Me Some Fluffy Passion.

I’m hitting the point in my life, where I need to be pursuing these passions. Pursue, lest I forget I have them. Pursue daily, a grind that allows me to grow in them; grow with them.

These passions are mine. They were given to me and are my responsibility. No one else has passions exactly like mine.

 

Once more:

Show. Me. Some. Fluffy. Passion.