Susie // Category: 
When we have a passion for something that we love some may call it an addiction. It got me thinking while I was drawing this sketch of Stevie Ray and his beloved Number One Guitar. You can’t watch Stevie playing guitar without seeing the feeling and emotion he had for it.
Cradling his ‘59 Strat as if she was a fine woman, I believe it was his passion for the sound and the feeling that he created with every pick of the 13 gauge strings.
Passion = Strong feeling or emotion
Passion = the emotion of felling very strongly about a subject
Passion = any object of warm affection or devotion
Addiction = A chronic relapsing disease
Addiction = Physiological & Psychological compulsion
Addiction = Uncontrollable craving, seeking and use of substance
When we do something that we enjoy, I have heard it referenced before that it is an addiction? Are we crossing an imaginary bridge when moderation goes out the window?
Whether it’s drawing, playing guitar, blogging, gardening or just sitting quietly reading a book, why is it that the guilt can set in? What has driven us to the point of stereotyping our desires to think that they could be an addiction?
I suppose this is where the term guilty-pleasures was born, but why? Why is it that we should have guilt? If we continue to do something we enjoy, we continue to grow, learn & are able to educate others by our example.
It was the many guitar players before Stevie that drove his desire to play and furthered his success. We all have someone we look up to or aspire to, with out their passion for what they did, wouldn’t we be left in a teach less environment?
We are all teachers and we are all students, we never know what can be created if we don’t continue to learn about our passions and express them in whatever form they come in. Keeping a positive attitude is essential in reaching our success. When we begin to feel guilty the negativity creeps in, and that can stifle your potential. I will say that there are circumstances that our pleasures can consume us, and the boundaries between passion and addiction become blurred, moderation is the key.
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| 3.6 (1 person) |
Tags: addiction, drawing, guitar, passion, stevie ray
June 12th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I love the way you “draw” the reader into this post. And it was an interesting way of “drawing” me over as well
But I do have to say tis is a great post on desire and passion and success. Success comes from great desire and passion we feel within. Addictions are never good - addictions are a negative - and I know people will tell me they are addicted to love or music or things like that - but they are not addicted. I have a passionate love for you or I desire to be the best musician in the world, once we move into an addiction we move into a negative part of what was once positive. I think it is more that people search for “stronger” words to define our feelings - so we often choose words that do not fit but do sound good.
Love for example. There are so many different types of love, but English really only has one word. Other languages have many words to describe different kinds of love. The love I feel for the NY Mets is quite different than the love I feel for my children, but I love them both, and that is where English falls short. I am not addicted to my children and I am not addicted to the NY Mets, I have a passion for baseball and enjoy watching my favorite team and I have a deep and everlasting love for my children. I am addicted to nothing and you need to be addicted to nothing too. I think I just wrote a post… Sorry
Ben
June 12th, 2008 at 8:14 am
@Benny - thanks for stopping in and giving the insight! I have so enjoyed your site, and it’s been an inspiration in the last few weeks.
I am glad I “drew” you in and hope to do for others as well. I loved the write up about the English language falling short of words to describe love.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Passion is not addiction. Addiction controls your life while passion enhances your life and the lives around you.
This is a homerun post Susie, great art but even better content!
Chriss last blog post..Go Ahead, Ask Me
June 13th, 2008 at 3:10 am
That’s an interesting concept that Passion and Addiction are in the same realm, I suppose that you’re correct in saying that; but they are on opposite sides more than anything else.
I would say that you can have both fully consume you, though certainly nothing like that has ever happened to me; but if and when that happens, passion would be fulfilling and good, while addiction would be bad and leave you empty.
Charless last blog post..Leni Riefenstahl - A Great Artist - Part 1
June 13th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Guilt only slips in when someone becomes jealous because they don’t have a passion, gives us a hard time. My mom and I am passionate about the greatest sporting franchise ever, The Washington Redskins. I get a lot of crap from non-football lovers, They are jealous that they don’t have a passion. Passion is good and it is a type of addiction. Addictions don’t have to be bad. Do they?
Dannys last blog post..Un-Biased ’60’s Era Fender ‘Voodoo” Strat Review
June 13th, 2008 at 8:18 am
My “guilty pleasures” are only an issue when they tend to replace my necessary duties to sustain my family or myself.
To me, when a guilty pleasure gets in the way of productivity for a greater good is when its time to consider your priorities.
However, without the passions that drive us, we’re simply alive, not living. I don’t feel guilty about that much. I try to diversify my life, so that I can get the most from everything, but when I put my passion into something, it deserves my best attentions.
Great post, and it does make you think.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hi Susie, thanks for your comment on my Japan post.
Wow, you are an artist! I failed my Arts
I am still updating posts on Japan, then Korea. Hope to see you at my site again
Please consider exchange link with me.
~eunice~
eunices last blog post..World’s tightest pair of jeans
June 18th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
That’s your man! Nice creativity on this one Susie!
Frank Js last blog post..FireFox 3 The Next Day
June 18th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
@Frank - you can be certain of that one..he’s ingrained somewhere in my fiber, and when the great creator calls me, I am sure to meet him!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Another great SRV! We went to the guitar show here in Dallas this year and there was a SRV tribute. My husband (he was a big fan when Stevie first started out) introduced me to Doyle Bramhall and I thought of you. Hope that your trip to Austin went well.
Mandy =)
Mandys last blog post..Nominated for Excellence
July 29th, 2008 at 2:07 am
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