Passion instils self-energy of unique qualities. To be passionate about whatever one does, be it writing, painting, cooking, accounting, engineering, or whatever the task, one has to be at one with the doing part of being. It is not simply enough to be a writer on has to do writing, and do it in a passionate way.

Writing comes from deep within, and some would argue that it might even come from with-out, from some energetic interruption from the universe as if gifted on to the paper through the writer. However one discovers their words, the lack of passion in doing so makes the job of writing, just that – a job.

Any professional who is passionate about what they do will relay the same message, the lesson of being in the moment and being alive in what one sets out to accomplish on a daily basis.

Drone is a negative low energy term that can be the opposite of passion if one allows the process to overtake the passion. Wandering one’s way though a job, meandering and biding time is not invoking nor engaging your mind with your body. Your mind is a powerful tool, arguably your best tool regardless of your profession. For a writer it is everything. Our mind becomes our go-to place on a moment by moment, word by word basis to get the job done.

The energy that comes from creating one’s work from inside your own head is indescribable to a non-writer and shadows a mystery and romance around the world of a writing lifestyle. That energy when coupled with passion creates a powerful process and when the two are in sync writing becomes a very charmed way to make a living.

It is not always that simple, and all writing be it journalism, research, technical, non-fiction, poetry, novel, script and many many kinds, all come back to one thing – that of the words that must come together on the paper. Those words must filter through the mind of the writer, process themselves onto the paper, and carry a reader’s attention. The simplest newspaper article to the most complex big-screen script must all go through the same process. Without a passion the writer does not only the reader a disservice, but also one to themselves.

Without the passion of writing, the homework and research, the process and the final outcome are lack-lustre and one might as well trade in your pencils and stand behind a counter asking ‘do you want fries with that?’

Why write if you don’t bring a passion to the page? Always pack along your passion when you gather up your tools to write. Carry that passion through the entire experience of research and creating, and it will magically find its way onto the page every single time.

"I can never get people to understand that poetry is the expression of 
excited passion, and that there is no such thing as a life of passion 
any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who 
would ever shave themselves in such a state?"
... Lord Byron, in a letter to Thomas Moore, 5 July 1821

Lifestyle is one of those rare words that takes on a different meaning for every person who speaks it. As varied are the lives of individuals, their style varies even more so. Compound the two words and one has endless possibilities. As a writer one has endless lifestyle possibilities.

This week I attended a most amazing concert by Perla Batalla (perla.com) – celebrating the release of her new CD, Bird on the Wire, The Songs of Leonard Cohen.  In her early career days in the late 60’s she landed a great gig as a backup singer touring with Leonard Cohen, and now twenty years later has released her own tribute and tour to the poetry of Cohen.

Leonard Cohen, known for over four decades of poetic musical brilliance is being honoured this coming March as the 23rd induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This 1934 Canadian born talent was first known for his literary genius releasing his collection of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956), The Spice-Box of Earth (1961), and Flowers for Hitler (1964), and his novels The Favourite Game (1963), and Beautiful Losers (1966). In the 1960’s he embarked on a hugely-successful music career as a song-writer with Judy Collins recording his unmistakably-Cohen hit Suzanne. Over a dozen books later, and dozens of albums and recordings and as many awards and recognitions world-wide, Cohen is unquestionably a very celebrated literary and musical genius.

I mention all this, to point out that writing, the poetry of stringing those words, whether in a rhythmic chant on paper, a complex novel, or a haunting melody in the air, is a gift from somewhere out in the universe, delivered through the writer and on to the page. Cohen’s brilliantly simple gift of bringing complex emotion to a blank piece of paper, comes from that very same deep dark place within where all writers go to, to write from. Perla Batalla, in her emotional magical delivery of Cohen’s words joked that they never talked about the meaning behind his lyrical rants.

In my teenage angst in the 60’s & 70’s, Cohen words meant nothing and everything and more, inspiring swirling emotion and deep desires as a young writer to create equally haunting words that meant simply nothing more than that which the reader wanted to read, but everything gut-churning that the writer needed to write.

I aspired to Cohen’s gift of words. As a writer discover what inspires you to want to dig deep and pull out the passion in your very soul.  The poetry of words doesn’t mean a poem, for me it means a passion.

“Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go by You can spend the night beside her And you know that she's half crazy But that's why you want to be there … And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind And you know that you can trust her For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.” Leonard Cohen