lifestyle

Useless Passions

Most of my life is deliberate, productive, rational and efficient.  I decide what I will do, by how much it helps me towards my goals and objectives.  Will I see benefits professionally, socially, economically, ethically, spiritually?  These are the sort of criteria that I judge most of my actions by.  However there are some actions that I am careful to never judge.  These I call Useless Passions.

A Useless Passion is something that will never pay off in a conventional sense.  It is something that you love and look forward to.  It is not an obsession that wears you out but a pleasure that refreshes you.  A useless passion is more of a sensory, emotive sort of pleasure - its power comes from within you.  A useless Passion is like a neck tie - it has no purpose but it makes all of the difference.   

My favourite Useless Passion is jewellery making.  I have little need for jewellery.  I make no money from my creations.  I never enter my work in competitions or take commissions from others.  And I never, never, never work productively.  For me, cutting, soldering, shaping and crafting jewellery is simple and absorbing.  When I sit down to my tools I am 100% in control of my time.  I am not working to please anyone but myself and my level of satisfaction depends entirely on my progressive mastery of my craft.  As a passionate jeweler I am not an expert and I hope never to become one.  I am a student and a researcher of silver-smithing.  I take personal (private) pride in the surfaces and textures that I laboriously bring out in the metals that I work, and I express my craft in design that I find exciting and yet soothing.  On a good day, my jewellery is a satisfying and restorative passion.  On a bad day it is still good for me.

Why is a Useless Passion so important?  I firmly believe that too much work and not enough play make Tom a very tired, sick, stressed and unproductive boy.  I need recreation and I need the right sort of recreation.  My Useless Passions are perfect because they include the right proportion of satisfying elements with precisely no external pressure to perform.  While I am in my “Jewellers mode” the only pressure that I feel is my desire to find the perfect surface or invisible joint.  These desires are fed by honest and careful practice and there is no deadline.  I may never achieve the perfect joint, but that doesn’t matter in the least.  The whole restorative process lies in my journey.

Useless Passions are often journeys that you can pursue over many years or a lifetime.  For some people it could be music appreciation or music creation.  Others might study insects or practice their breath-hold diving.  Your passions could be private or public, but they should never be dependent on others and they should never, ever, feel like work.  What ever your passion it should be something that ignites your senses and makes you long for the next oportunity to do it.  When everything else seems to fall apart, your Useless Passion should still be there, offering to calm your mind and steady your composure.  Your Useless Passions should feel a little like selfish indulgence.  Blocking out an hour to pursue your passion should feel mildly irresponsible as if you were pampering yourself.  This is part of the reason why a Useless Passion is so powerful.  Even in a life that is crammed with efficiency and forward motion, you have found a shelter from the pace and a way to balance your mind.

Do you have any Useless Passions?  Things that you do purely for yourself.  That take time and focus and are part of a long term journey.  Please make a point today of writing a brief comment bellow telling us all a little about your Useless Passion.

Thanks

Tom