This weeks exercise in happiness is to list the things I am passionate about. This list flowed onto the paper easily and filled the page. I have many things I feel pretty passionate about. Some are newly acquired, others are so ingrained they are a permanent part of my personality, for better or for worse. Passions can be a blessing and a curse.

1. Photography. “In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” ~ Ansel Adams

2. Hiking. I have a therapist, her name is nature.

3. Animal Rights. I have many passions when it comes to animals. Wildlife rescue, habitat protection, cruelty free, I can go off on many tangents. Basically I will kick your ass if you kick your dog (in a nutshell)

4. Gay Rights. I am not going to get all political here. I have many close friends that are LBGT and I have seen first hand struggles of good people, good parents and what ignorance can do to hurt people in ways that most people can never fathom. Love is love. period.

5. Kayaking. "The rivers flow not past, but through us" John Muir