Do You *L*O*V*E* It?

I've noticed that I frequently pose the question "Do you love it?" to a lot of people I don't know well.  New people in my life, one whose acquaintance I only recently had the pleasure of making, whenever they share something about themselves, I'm right up in their face with a passionate, "Do you LOVE it?"  I mean it genuinely and sincerely, looking intently into their eyes.  It usually catches them off guard.  If you think about it, it is kind of a dramatic testament, stating that you love something.  And the funny thing is, most people don't know how to respond.  They kind of awkwardly laugh or look away for half a second.  But I'm still there when they make eye contact again and I repeat, only with less flare and more calmly, "So, do you love it?"

I didn't used to do this.  When someone tells me something that they do or did or want to do, one assumes that they have taken enough interest in it to pursue it so it seems kind of redundant to ask if they love it.  But I wanna know, dammit.  I've done months and months of thinking about what would make me really happy, what makes people tick, what makes people tick less, and I think I picked up on something big: there are people that choose to do what makes them happy and joyful and fulfilled and there are people that choose to do whatever makes them think they're happy which does not necessarily correspond to whether they're happy or not.  Bottom line, being unemployed gives you a lot of time to think about things that wouldn't otherwise even make a blip on your radar.  When I hear that someone teaches for a living, I want to know, do you LOVE it?  Or if someone enjoys trying their hand at new recipes for their friends, I want to know, do you LOVE doing that?  And if someone is an artist with a part-time job as a secretary to pay the bills, I want to know, do you LOVE doing both those things?  One to support the other?  The answer better be "Abso-freaking YES."  

Be happy doing what you love.  It's one of those things that are easier said than done.  Do something that makes you tick.  I don't care if that tick's fueled by the high you get from your financial ability to buy a swanky designer bag every month or if it's because you can live in a lavish penthouse apartment or if it's the respect you garner from having extra letters behind your name or if you genuinely appreciate the study of Egyptian calligraphy or if you simply enjoy time with dogs.  Just whatever you're doing, do it for the love of it or as a means to pursuing something that you do love.

LOVE it.  LOVE it.  LOVE it some more.