“I’ve got love for you if you were born in the 80’s.” —Song sung by Calvin Harris, Lyrics written by David Devine / Adam Wiles (Calvin Harris)

I recently gave one of my hand-dyed cocoon jacket creations to my fashion loving 95-year-old grandmother, and the instant she put it on, her face lit up. She modeled it for me and then kept looking at herself in the mirror, trying it on different ways. At that exact moment I knew that human passion, whatever it may be, never dies. She wore it to church the next day and called me to tell me how many people complimented her on the piece. It not only made me feel great that my art was well-received, but I knew it made her feel great too.

You can learn something from all the generations of the world.

One big thing I’ve learned from her (and her daughter, my 70+ year old aunt) is that life isn’t over at a certain age. They both still have a passion for fashion and beauty just as much now as they did in their teen years. They both have gone through sad and difficult times, but they’ve kept going and have always landed on their feet.

So many humans go through many sad or difficult moments, get stuck in the sad and difficult feelings associated with the moments, then become complacent. They may still go through the day to day motions, but their passion for cooking, the arts, fashion, reading, or even self care, dies off. Though sadness and difficult moments are hard, you have to keep going.

Your life circumstances may change over time, however, you must keep striving to keep your love and passion for something alive.

I think the key to keeping your passion alive is surrounding yourself with others that have the similar interests and passions. If you are surrounded by people who don’t share your common interests, it may be time to find some new surroundings.

Some of my ideas on how to do this:

• Find an art class to attend if you love art

• Find a book club to attend if you love to read

• Find a cooking class to attend if you love to cook

• Find a volunteer group to join if you love to give the gift of time

• Find a fitness class to join if you love to exercise

Currently the app and website Meetup (available in 180 countries) is a great place to start finding groups with similar interests. You can also do a website search for art classes (or fitness, or book club, etc) + (your city). Many results will come up and then you can either visit the various websites or call the location to get a class schedule and see if there are fees involved.

I have love for anyone born in the 80’s (though I was born one year earlier than that!) but I also have love for all the generations in our world. I hope for everyone to understand it doesn’t matter how old or young you are, everyone goes through sad and difficult times, but YOU still are deserving of keeping your passion alive!

Sending my my light and love to anyone who needs it!

Some song inspiration- The song that inspired my art and writing is below. I got a different meaning out of the song than the video creator, but that’s what is cool about art…each person can interpret it however they wish!

I honestly just really like the beat.

Enjoy!