Passion and Prehistory Research

I thought I’d take this week to talk about some of the most fun stuff I do—research! Sounds dry, right? I guess it depends on your POV (Point of View), to use a writerly term.

In a roundabout way, I’ll get to that. But first, a discussion came up in a group yesterday about whether to journal or not. Then, later the same day, a somewhat similar discussion took place between me and my cousin.

The jist of the first one arose from talking about journaling, recommended in the group. One woman said she didn’t like to journal. My thoughts are, if you don’t like it, don’t do it. But, my further thoughts are, everyone who manages to stay sane has an outlet, a steam vent, something you do to keep you from boiling over and blowing up when you’re under pressure.

For me, it’s writing. For most writers I know, that’s true. Writing is not only our passion, it’s what we do to stay mentally healthy. That doesn’t work for everyone, of course. For some people, it’s exercise. For some, it’s music. For some, it’s sewing. But I still contend that everyone has a steam vent. 

The other discussion was about passion versus addiction. Are all passions addictions? Aren’t they just socially acceptable addiction? You could say that you’re lucky if your passion is legal and socially acceptable. If it’s not, you’re very unlucky and might end up with fines, jail time, or being shunned.

Here’s a passion of mine that doesn’t get me into trouble: Neanderthal research. Don’t ask me how I got passionate about this topic. I have no idea. I just know that delving into textbooks and reams of research to glean a nugget I can use for a plot point is exciting to me. Some people skydive and race cars. I do anthropology research. If it doesn’t bore you to tears, you can find some of my early research for my Neanderthal mysteries on this blog at: http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/p/more-info.html.

all photos from morguefile.com