Even if you knew nothing about my sister Nancy, you wouldn’t need the detective skills of Miss Marple to discover her passion. A visit to her charming apartment in Rome has all the clues you’d need. From the terracotta ornaments on the walls and shelves, to the books lining her bookcases, to the etchings on her walls, you’d quickly figure out that this is a woman devoted to the culture of ancient Greece and Italy. There’s even a sofa pillow embroidered with a slogan declaring My Life is in Ruins.
Genuine passion goes beyond interior decorating, of course. Nancy’s passion has been at the center of her life for decades. Many lives, including mine, are richer for that. The first time I visited her in Greece, she took me to see the ruins at Corinth. We began walking through what looked like a rubble pile and Nancy started to describe the scene as it would have looked during the time of St. Paul. Suddenly the rocks and ruins came to life as I visualized the bustling city that once stood on that site.
Later this month, her book Symbols of Wealth and Power will be published. It’s a book that she’s been working on for twelve years. Her research for this has taken her to many museums and Etruscan sites. She’s also spent huge amounts of her own money to finance much of the production, purchase photographs and illustrations for the book. Unlike commercial publishing, academic books are not necessarily a profitable undertaking for the author. Why would she spend a dozen years working on a project with a slim possibility of financial reward?
There are all sorts of answers to that question, of course, but the essential explanation is that Nancy understands the difference between an expense and an investment. It’s a distinction that is necessary if we’re to succeed at anything that’s meaningful. Spending our time and money on nurturing and exploring our passions only makes sense, of course, if we have the courage to discover them in the first place.
Nancy’s fairly modest about her accomplishments, but when Symbols of Wealth and Power joins her earlier Greek Architectural Terracottas on her bookshelf, she’ll be planning her next project to share her passion with anyone who cares to listen. I expect she’ll continue investing in her passions for the rest of her days. Will you?
Such a gift to have such a sister! Thanks for introducing her & sharing her passion. Absolutely inspiring!!
I always love hearing about your siblings and remember hearing about Nancy before. Boy, I would love to be on one of her private tours! ;-)How terrific that she’s going to have this book published! Yes, I believe in investing in my passion. I don’t think all benefits can be measured in money or profits. If one always looks for immediate payback in terms of dollars, the passion-inspired project soon becomes something entirely different, and not good different IMO.
Shirley