What's your passion?

Outside of tea, what is something you’re passionate about, an activity, a cause, the environment?

I have a deep passion in tattoos, the culture & the industry.

My biggest passion though is polar bears. I do what I can environmentally to leave them a better planet. I made a donation today to a program for research in helping sustain them & in the next few months will be “adopting” a polar bear.
My dream is to see polar bears in their natural habitat.
They are quite the majestic creature, I have seen them in the zoo & in all honesty was in near tears at their sheer beauty.

So what drives you?

86 Replies
Denny said

Music… if it didn’t exist I wouldn’t.

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Azzrian said

Oh so many things!
Recycling for one. Not just in recycling trash but items in general – reuse.
Nature and especially trees. Herbs, plants, gardening, being outdoors.
Music, foreign culture, foods from around the world, experiencing new places through the culture and food even if I am currently stuck in Kansas.

I love your passion for the polar bears and I too do love tattoos!

I used to be in love with natural perfume blending as well as writing – things I intend to get back to once my daughter is more settled into her college life once she goes to college.

Also I have a passion for spreading the word about SDR a type of surgery for people, especially children with spastic diplegia – a type of cerebral palsy – a surgery that changes their lives! Not enough people who could benefit know about this surgery!!

I guess the things I care about are diverse – I don’t have any direct focus on any one thing at this time but my biggest passion is my kids and I spend most of my time making sure their passions are found and met. I will have time for mine later :)

I’ve got my girls on the polar bear crusade through a program they were introduced to through school.

Azzrian said

Thats awesome :)

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Lazey said

Cats. They’re great. No matter how bad a day I’m having one of the cats will cheer me up, they have a sense of humor.

Azzrian said

That is sweet – they have personalities all their own that is for sure! lol

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Josie Jade said

Dogs and animal rescue in general. I work with Chihuahua Rescue & Transport and sometimes the local Greyhound rescue group. And of course our 2 dogs and 3 cats keep me busy as well, I love them all dearly!

Yay animal rescue! I try to convince as many people in my life as possible to adopt over purchasing dogs!!!!

Josie Jade said

Me too! I think LA just banned the sale of dogs in pet stores – I wish they would do that everywhere!

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So many things for me as well!

I’ve been an artist for all my life, always drawing, painting and sculpting. I’m totally messy with it too and I don’t mind cleaning up my own mess.
Similarly, I love to knit and crochet – create sketches of things and crochet up a pattern for it.
When I was working as a counsellor, I did craft and art groups and felt like I was having too much fun! Overall, I’m always doing something, knitting up socks in the car, or doodling if there’s paper within reach.

I also love to cook and bake, which is kinda deadly! I specialize in pies and cookies. I think that I like to mostly cook for others, I love feeding people, lol!

Azzrian said
I do not have one ounce of ability to draw – I can’t even draw a stick figure – or paint one … but I really REALLY wish I could! I buy little art sets now and then but Im not good at it lol

I have no artistic ability at all, maybe that’s why I wear it on my skin. My mom & brother got all the skills in that are.

david said

Gaby loves cooking! I’m so blessed that she can cook like she does, it makes my life easier. She will cook, I make the delicious tea lattes and more.

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Claire said

Books and library work. It’s taken me a long time to work towards a Bachelors and my next step, Masters in Library Science. The closer I get the happier. I love the work I’m doing!

Azzrian said

I worked at our library ages ago – Love it – except for cleaning the dirty books returned to circulation! Yuck some things you find in the books!
But the library was a wonderful environment and I do miss it at times.

Claire said

I agree about the dirty books thing – that’s why the tea made with book pages was so nasty!

I’ve been lucky to have jobs in archives and special collections, so I get to see things like 500 year old books at my work. They’re amazing! Right now I’m digitizing a lot of older collections, and I’ve gotten to read and see some really neat things, from small press art books to preserved 1930’s strike pamphlets. I feel like I get to learn something new everyday, and help someone everyday, and I love it.

Dustin said

^That sounds really cool! I’d love to be able to check out super old pieces of history like that!

K S said

Years ago I had a 2 book encyclopedia that was about 100 years old. It was interesting and funny to see how differently the world was viewed and how much people thought they knew that was just plain wrong. Science stuff mostly, but I really can’t recall any specifics.

Tea made with book pages? Yuck! I have a BA in English Education and I want a masters someday but NOT in English, so I was thinking Education, but Library Science sounds interesting- can you tell me more?

Claire said

Sure, Madeline! I find a lot of people don’t know what librarians actually do. This article may be helpful: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA605244.html
Rachel here on Steepster has her MLS as well.

There are reference librarians, archivists, and librarians that just deal with computers now. Librarians create databases – back in the day, that was a card catalog, but now it’s the electronic database you search at your library. Librarians purchase and add new books for libraries. Some librarians teach, if they work at a university. Most assist people with research at some point. I have mostly done archivist work, which deals with preserving, cataloging, and taking care of older materials (which are not always books).
This is not the world’s greatest time to get an MLS – the job market is pretty stiff right now. However, if you live in a good city (like mine, SF) and are very determined, you can get a job in the field within 6 months to a year after graduation. In the bay area a number of librarians work for tech companies managing databases.

Thanks for the info! I’ll read the article later when I’m back home :)

Right now I teach 8th grade English in Palo Alto, but I know I don’t want to be an admin or teach college, so just looking at different masters options :)

I volunteer for the library. I usually pull loans from the shelves. I have some college credits. I’d love an English major. I love to write, that is my passion. I will be at the library tomorrow even if there is cold weather. My branch will be open on MLK day.

I have my MLS (wow…going on 11 years now), and I work in records and information management for a large company. Quite a few records folks have a MLS.

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Books, music, and travel. Mostly books, I love my books.

Donna A said

Yes, yes, and yes.

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I use to write a lot, poems only. I haven’t written in a really long time.

I use to work as an addiction counselor, although I am still passionate about it, I am not in a place emotionally to go back to the work.

whoa cool, I was an addictions counsellor in Canada – I don’t do it now as I’d have to go through school again to practice in my state.

Serenity said

Such hard work! My mother worked as a social worker at a program in a hospital for people with addictions. It wore her down, there were not enough resources to truly help, she felt, for example people getting discharged and having no home, not even a bed…!

It’s hard to remember to write! And even harder to not be critical about your own work when you do!

david said

I went through a similar stage when I was younger. Lots of writing… have over 100+ poems. Haven’t in a long time, it was a lot of fun.

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I support LGBT rights, ESPECIALLY those of the T – transgender and two-spirited.

But my horse is my life, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have him. I would like to one day use him for equine assisted therapy, which is not done in the saddle. He would be perfect for it, he’s great on the ground, loves people, and while I couldn’t handle college psychology classes (the more I learned about what people did to each other in the name of science really screwed me up), I want to still help people with mental/emotional issues, as a way of giving back to the world for all the help people gave me.

Azzrian said

I miss having horses. :( I think what you want to do with therapy is wonderful!

Claire said

I agree. I don’t think I could ever keep a horse myself, but I’ve known some really sweet horses.
I also try to be a strong supporter of LGBT issues, as they affect people near and dear to me.

Equine therapy is so helpful for those with mental health & addiction, it’s really to bad it’s not more widely used.

LGBT rights are so important, I really believe in equality for everyone LGBT, women, men, children, elderly.

I find that the T in LGBT is tacked on as an afterthought. Trans-identified (or gender non-conforming)individuals aren’t really that accepted within the queer community. We have our own community of sorts, but if you’re not 100% finished your transition, you’re “not trans enough” and typically get treated poorly or shunned altogether.

My dad is a military veteran (served for 30 years in the Canadian military) and he now works with an organization that offers support to veterans with PTSD/addictions/other mental health issues. He’s trying to set up a “horses for heroes” program, where some of his guys can go for horse-assisted therapy. Unfortunately, he’s having a hard time getting it started, so I’m contemplating offering him the use of Java (with my supervision of course, so I can monitor Java’s stress/anxiety level and intervene if he needs me), with the condition that nobody touches his legs/feet (it’s the only major trigger for undesirable/potentially dangerous behaviour that I can see coming up during a session) so that he can get a feel for if it helps his guys enough to pursue further.

Dustin said

That’s really sad that there is a hierarchy in the trans community. So just when you think you have found a group of people who really get you, turns out you don’t have enough gear to really join the club? :(

I saw this really neat video the other day. It was a photo a day for three years of this one guy’s M to F transformation. It was really amazing and she was quite the stunning beauty in the end!

Claire said

I was lucky to see Julia Serano speak last year, a trans activist and author. It was very sad to hear some of the things that trans people have to face on a daily basis. I hope our society can become more accommodating and accepting.

Well as an example, in the last 2 weeks, I’ve been assaulted in public bathrooms twice, harrassed for trying on clothes in the men’s department of a store once, and refused assistance at a men’s formalwear store once. I’ve suffered harassment and bullying from my own mother and sister daily since coming out (to the point where I regret my choice to come out at all), and have had people tell me to “suck it up” because “it’s my fault anyways”. I definitely wouldn’t wish it all on my worst enemy.

Dustin said

Holy crap, that is a lot to handle! I wish you didn’t have to deal with it, especially from your family!

Yes about LGBTQ! My classroom is a “safe spot” at my school and I try to wear pro-love (essentially) shirts often to remind students that there is somebody there if they need support. I have “Love is love” with the different gender symbols holding hands, “Gay? Fine by me.” and… maybe just those two, but I have the latter in two different colors. We’re trying to come up with a new slogan for this year to increase purchase of the shirts at school…

I’m sorry to hear all you’ve gone through, ShayneBear :-/

I’m assuming you’re the teacher, going by the wording of your post Madeline Alyce, so I’m making these suggestions as if that’s the case (because not all of the shirts I have on my wish list are entirely professional, haha)
There’s the No H8 campaign: http://www.noh8campaign.com/store-items
There’s a ton of different categories (and patterns/slogans) on this site. I have a LOT on my wishlist: http://www.glbtshirts.com/equality/
There’s also the FCK H8 campaign, but that might not be appropriate for a teacher, haha: http://fckh8.com/

It makes me REALLY happy to know that you make your classroom a safe space. I had an “almost safe ish” space in high school (my french teacher’s class room), but in college even the Pride Lounge was unsafe for me to spend time in, it was for “GLB only” apparently (according to the people who would regularly spend time there) and since I identify (or did at the time) as a straight male instead of a lesbian (I now consider myself to be a bit more “bisexual” as I like gay males, but have yet to find myself attracted to a straight one, haha)I wasn’t welcome to spend time there. I ended up dropping out of college entirely after a single year (well, two semesters). But that’s alright, college wasn’t really for me anyways, and I went on to explore the world of working with animals instead!

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oh this thread makes me realize I’m more passionate about many things.

Drunk driving for another. Don’t even get me started on this topic.

I also LOVE astrology!

I love astrology too! I pretty much ask people their birthday in the same breath I ask their name when I first meet them. And then, some people are so obviously one sign I don’t even have to ask. :)

I’ve been dabbling in it (and reading star charts) since high school – my teachers used to give me birthdays of their potential suitors and ask me to look them up, haha.

It’s a really helpful tool for learning preliminary things about a person, I think.

Azzrian said

I do astrology – and other things for a living but it is also a true joy to do for “work”.

Drunk Driving makes me SO MAD I am furious right now just thinking about it. It’s one of the most preventable tragedies EVER. That’s why I was always the drunk taxi in college. Fine by me if you call and wake me up at 2am as long as I know you all make it home alive.

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