What’s your passion?
We all have a passion. Some of us call it a hobby, or an obsessive interest. What’s yours? Perhaps it’s reading, travel, a sport, a handicraft, cooking or your family. I hope it’s not work.
Perhaps your family is your obsession.
My sister Lynda is devoted to supporting her Geelong Cats Aussie Rules Football Club, growing vegetables, cleaning her house, cycling, kayaking and the colour blue. God knows where she got the obsessive cleaning gene from, but she’s got it in a supersized dose. If you follow Lynda on Facebook, you’ll regularly see her photos of the latest harvest from her garden. I don’t think she posts photos of the tattoos she gets every time Gelong wins the premiership, but I night be wrong.
But Lynda’s greatest obsession is her family, and I mean this most sincerely. She’ll do anything for them to help and strengthen those family bonds. She has two daughters, two sons-in-law and four grandchildren. She loves each one of them unconditionally and does all she can to support them and maintain that family bond. She babysits, has the grandkids over to stay for holidays and hosts family days where she prepares everything. Recently it was a grandson’s birthday, so she made the cake and hosted the family for the party. Maybe she’s just a normal doting grandmother, but I think she takes it further.
But her devotion to family doesn’t stop with her children and grandchildren, it also extends to her siblings and before Mum passed, to her as well.
I’m her brother and she won’t let me forget I’m part of her family. Ten years ago she rolled up in Bali to celebrate my sixtieth birthday. I was trapped into celebrating a milestone I would have happily ignored.
She presented me a special present – a book of photos documenting sections of my life. As I write memoir, I frequently refer to this book to fact check and study details so I can add accurate descriptions in my writing.
This blog was not meant to be a tribute to Lynda, but it just worked out that way. I could have just as easily used my oldest sister Janet as the example. She is also devoted to family- her two daughters, two sons-in law and three grandsons. She’ll do anything for them. She flew to my bedside, five years ago when I had bladder cancer and underwent radical surgery. I love Janet and Lynda. But this isn’t about them. It’s supposed to be about me.
What am I passionate about?
My passions have changed over time. For 25 years I devoted myself to teaching and being a principal. This was my passion at the time and to ensure I was as good as I could be, I devoted my spare time to improving my qualifications. I ended up with five degrees.
Then the time came for me to changes direction. Quitting work and moving to Bali in 1999, my new passions became learning and speaking Bahasa Indonesia, exploring my sexuality and painting. Daily I immersed my self in painting and did many courses to improve. I’m proud of my painting talents.
But my life changed when I met Bayu in 2007. For the sake of our relationship, I stopped painting nudes and eventually all painting. I moved my creative energies to writing, and we developed a common interest through travel.
I’d dabble in writing for years, but when it became my new creative focus, I started a process of upskilling that continues still today.
Writing is my passion.
My next blog, titled, ‘WRITING IS MY PASSION’ will drop into your inbox in the next few days. It will describe my writing journey. I hope you enjoy it.
What a fascinating and positive post, Steve. Thank you for sharing your family with us and it was perfect for those of us who just celebrated Thanksgiving!
Thanks Mandy. Yes family is so important. Steve
Very interesting Steve ❤️
Fantastic Steve..family is every thing Cheers Kennedy
Thanks Ken. Yes, family is everything. Steve
Great Steve family is great Cheers Ken
What a wonderful family you have, Steve! I feel quite jealous.
Thanks Robina.
Relationships are tricky, and family relationships are quite possibly the trickiest of all. It is heartwarming to read about your esteem for your sisters. Did you ever publish the memoir of your childhood? It’s an incredible story.
Hi Sherry, You’re right about family relationships being tricky, but they are worth the occasional dramas. I have not published 3 Mums, 6 years, but instead I’m using parts of it in a memoir, Good Grief – A Very Personal Memoir. Mum’s death is connected with the childhood stories. Having fun with this, but still working out the structure and it’s half finished. Are you writing? Steve
Steve this is such a lovely tribute to you sister Lynda. Sisters have a unique and special place in our hearts and in our lives. It was not until my beloved sister Sonya died two years ago that I realised just how much I relied on her for many good things in my life. Mostly just a cuppa and a chat about things that were difficult for other members of my family to understand. The endless hope that our sisters have for us is, I believe, only matched by our loving mothers. You are so right to celebrate and cherish your sisters, as they do you. And rightly so. Because you are so worthy of cherishing. X
Thanks Fiona. Our sisters are special. I ring Janet most days just to chat, talk about what is happening in my life and to hear what is happening in her life. Lynda and I rarely talk, but we message a lot, so we maintain a connection. Diane lives in England and she is a lost cause to all of us and she has let us know that she wants no contact. Sad, but I believe we’ll all be there for her if she reaches out to us. Those sibling bonds get stronger as we age. I look forward to catching up with you soon. Steve.