Video Summary:

I think everyone in one sense or another has had dreams in their life that they were really passionate about. It could have been when you were a little kid wanting to be an astronaut or a princess. It could be later in adolescence, in college, or early twenties.

It's this thing that you were fired up about and there was a lot of fire in your belly around it. It could have been music, art, social activism, dancing, or sports. Maybe you were on a really high level of swimming, music, or dance.

What happens to most of us is we decide to have a family, get into a career, or “grow up”, and then we migrate away from this passion and dream. And, then later in life, say your forties, fifties, or sixties, something reawakens this passion or dream. And there it is, the energy of it reappears.

For me, it was music and was very emotional. I remembered how much I cared about it and how passionate I was about it. I played the drums and I was actually going to be a professional musician. I ultimately chose to be a therapist and spiritual coach, but I was very serious about music.

It just so happened that at this time I wasn't doing very well in college, and it got to a point where my career path was in danger. I went through this phase where I had to grow up and get my shit together. And when I did that, I threw the baby out with the bathwater with my passion for music.

Suddenly I was no longer a musician and drummer guy, and a few years later I sadly sold my drum set. I was moving a lot, and it didn't make sense to be carting these drums around the country. Soon my passion for music kind of just faded away.

Then about 35 years later which was about a year ago, I was spiritually drawn to aboriginal dreamtime experiences, and started playing the didgeridoo. It brought up my passion for music and soon I was thinking about adding a bass drum or ride cymbal to my didge playing. The passion was right there again.

The first thing to realize when this happens is that it’s typically about reintegrating that passionate aspect of you back into your life. That creative passion is a vital part of you. It may have gotten stunted or segmented away from you. Your being and spirituality may not be complete without that vitality and passion.

A second thing to keep in mind is when it comes back later in life, it's going to come back in a different way. The passion can still express itself but it's going to formulate itself differently in your life now than it did perhaps when it initially ignited or awakened.

When I was twenty, I was going to be a professional musician, be in a band, write music, and go to Berklee Music School. It was an identity and serious career path. Now it will likely be very different. Maybe I'll just play the drums for enjoyment. I may not be this cutting-edge musician, but I can still experience the passion.

A third thing is that we are different now. I'm very different now at sixty years old. I have more spiritual maturity and wisdom now than I did when I had that raw passion expression of spirituality when I was twenty. And so now when that energy ignites in me, it's going to format itself differently.

It's going to be more grounded, and I can integrate it at a deeper level. It's not as wild and impulsive as the younger drug, sex, and rock and roll version. It's still powerful, but it doesn't take over my life and I can integrate it in a more mature way. I can have more spiritual depth with it.