Passion is one of the subjects I think about the most. I see examples every day.
The young professional who plays with the dream of becoming an inventor and artist (http://snaketies.com/), the father, who mid-career starts a rock-and-roll band (http://www.youtube.com/user/thegratefuls), and the brave young girl who posts videos on youtube with the dream of one day being a professional musician (http://www.youtube.com/user/jaaaaaaa#p/u/54/Jk5L0-SIceg).
I am a student of passion.
What makes passion beautiful, including the first two examples above (my roommate [snaketies] and my girlfriends father [the rock group]) is that it drives people to do things with no guarantee of success or future reward. Taking it one step further – I would argue that truly passionate people would still pursue their dreams, even if they knew with absolute certainty that they would fail. It’s not the expectation of reward, or where you hope to end up. Rather, it’s the love of the journey – that’s the important part.
Happy 4th of July Weekend!