Passion

Travel is a very spiritual activity for me. To get out of my regular routine, visit new places, experience new cultures and expose myself to new ways of being in the world always leaves me a larger version of who I was before the adventure and I find it transformational.

One such trip was taken with my first husband and four other couples to the island of Moorea in French Polynesia in 1997. Moorea is a stunningly beautiful heart-shaped island just a short 30 minute ferry ride from Papeete, the capital of Tahiti. There were many wonderful things about a February visit to this magical island: the eighty-something degree air is almost exactly the same temperature as the eighty-something degree water; the island is completely surrounded by a coral reef so there are no waves crashing on the beach - it is much like swimming in a pool; the scenery, hiking, snorkeling, jungle, cultural center and the activities available made every minute full of beauty and fun. But my very favorite part of the trip was the people who are native to this enchanting place. The first thing that I noticed is that most of the people were quite poor according to American standards, yet I rarely meet anyone in America that radiated the kind of joy that I saw in these faces. They were fiercely proud - they took offence if you tipped them for any of their services, and they were full of passion.

I heard it in the voice of the man who ran the "Swim with the Sharks" tour. He knew the sharks intimately, had each of them named and loved introducing them to you - the tourists. From the way that he talked, you knew that he was passionate about the sharks, the ocean, his island and the fact that he wanted to break the bad press that sharks around the world receive. He was full of passion.

I saw it in the face of one of the girls that befriended us and took us all over the island in search of a certain trinket that my friend just had to take home with her. She barely knew us but she loved us and would do anything to help us. She was full of passion.

I watched it in the work of the two guides that took us on a snorkeling adventure to another small island. They paddled us to the site, showed us where the best snorkeling was and then cooked us a traditional meal of chicken and breadfruit cooked over an open flame and sashimi, a raw fish salad. They did everything from their heart with a deep passion that I rarely see here in the states.

After spending a week with these amazing and wonderful people, I came away a different person - one determined to live from the heart as I had seen these people do. However, it wasn't as easy as it looked. In a world of stressful jobs, unhappy marriages, over-busy kids, too many bills and too long a to-do list, it is very difficult to live from our hearts and we lose touch with our passion.

A spiritual life is a life lived from the heart - a life of passion. A spiritual life is where one consciously listens to one's heartsong, consciously chooses how to spend each minute of one's day and then lives each moment with passion. You aren't able to perform your job with passion? Then it is time to find a new job. Stressful relationships drowning out your heartsong? Then it is time to off-load some old relationships. Living beyond your means stamping out your ability to live from your heart? Then it is time to get out of debt and simplify your life.

It is now over ten years since I made the commitment to get back to living from my heart. It has not been an easy journey nor a journey without tears but it has been more than worth it. Find your passion once again. Live from your heart. Listen to your heartsong.