Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion

A passionate life might, for some people, be synonymous with a successful life—but how does one find passion and retain it throughout an entire lifetime? Levoy (Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life) takes on the art of creating passion. The text begins by looking at how the constraints of civilization require us to simultaneously work with and against our natures. As such, people find themselves trying to maintain their innate sense of discovery, connection to nature, and introspection while leading existences that are sedentary, reliant on technology, and work centered. Levoy draws examples of people dealing with difficult situations from popular culture, history, and everyday life, ranging from the struggle of the movie Papillon’s title character to survive captivity to an event planner’s need to control every facet of her life. The narrative allows readers to linger on each story and come away with new ways of looking at the world, but feels unstructured. The topic is stimulating, however, and Levoy’s faith that we can all find passion in our lives is genuinely stirring. (Jan.)