Friday, August 10, 2007

List of your addictions/passions/obsessions

About 7 years ago I asked my wife to list out her passions (guys call them addictions) - I never saw her answers, or ever even asked her about them, but I figured I'm 7 years late, but I'll list mine out.

First I have to define the word passion or passionate in this context:

pas·sion·ate [pash-uh-nit]
–adjective
1. having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
2. easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire; ardently sensual.
3. expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language.
4. intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings: passionate grief.
5. easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.

Ok, I understand #1 - having a strong feeling about, that makes sense.
#2 is the romance side of it - so I understand that one too (although it wasn't first in my mind).
#5 is a bit weird - "anger" is not an emotion or feeling I convey with passionate, but um...ok.
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Let's now look at the word addicted or addiction:

ad·dic·tion (uh-dik-shun)
-noun
Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance: a drug used in the treatment of heroin addiction.
An instance of this: a person with multiple chemical addictions.
The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or or involved in something. An instance of this: had an addiction for fast cars.

Now this is what guys have more than passions we have addictions.
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But potentially there is one more word that differentiates male from female. Like...obsessed or obsession:

ob·ses·sion [uhb-sesh-uhn]
–noun
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.
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Yup, all three of these words are tied into a guys psychi.

So here is my list with a brief description:

1. My wife Jennifer- passion/addiction/obsession (pretty self explanatory)

2. My daughter Avelyn- passion/addiction/obsession (pretty self explanatory)

3. My dog Cabo - addiction/obsession - I love my mutt more than words, if you knew me you'd know this already (I'm putting Cabo 3rd as not to piss off the wife, but truly, she might be higher in my heart - I'm just saying!). I feel that 15 years with this dog is too short, and every day it kills me to know it's one more without her. There is no replacing Cabo.

4. Boston Red Sox - passion/addiction/obsession - this is something that real Red Sox fans understand - Bill Simmons on ESPN Page 2 is classically expressing how ever Sox fan truly feels - he says it all in a way us non-writers can't. To read him is to understand every Sox fan's ups and downs.

5. Fly Fishing - addiction - no obsession here because I don't think I need all the new gear that comes out. This is truly an addictive activity, especially in some of the great places in Colorado that I fish in.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers - addiction - after winning the SB a few years back I realized that I did not have the same passion for the Steelers as I did for the Red Sox. Now, I love the Steelers, but I literally cried when the Sox won the WS. The SB was fun, but it was icing on the big cake and not a total shock like the WS. So, that is why this is listed lower than the Sox.

7. Good People/Friends/and recipricating that to those people - passion - this will sound weird to some (not those who know me), but there just aren't enough good people in the world. I mean people who treat you the way they want to be treated. People who you trust with your life, people who would give you the shirt off their backs, people who would lend you money (if they had it) without even asking a question. People who you would feel comfortable going into business with. I can probably count maybe 7 non-family people in my life who I trust whole heartedly. I'd give names, but I don't want anyone getting a big head.

8. Money - obsession - I'm not rich, I'm actually cheap. I don't make excess and don't live in excess and don't appreciate it when others do. I'm obsessed with providing for my family and my future retirement and yet I want to not live outside my bounds and I don't yearn for anything bigger than I think I need right now (example: house, car, wedding, vacations, etc.). Being a finance guy probably feeds this obsession.

That is all I can think of. I bet you can probably tell a lot about someone by seeing their list of addictions/passions/obsessions.

What's your a/p/o?

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