4:38 A.M.

Late nights are not something that are a regular indulgence anymore.  There was a time when staying up until 3, 4, 5 in the morning was the wave, was the move, and was the thing to do.  Those days lessened once being a grown-up and having to wake up early became a part of the equation.  However, there are moments, like the time this is being written, when staying up late is the way to go. 

It's 4:38 in the morning, and the only sounds present are the air conditioner blowing all through the house, a ceiling fan in the bedroom on full blast, and an old BET interview playing on YouTube with Prince.  He talks about believing in yourself, about art, about ownership, and about passion.  When passion is involved, damn near any challenge can be conquered.  Whether it’s 6 in the morning or 6 in the evening, the passion carries contributes to making things happen. 

The fuel that passion contains can make people do amazing things.  It can push people when they get tired, make people overcome self-doubt, allow people to get energized in the midst of fatigue.  Webster’s Dictionary defines passion as a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something (1).  That can carry someone to a studio after working all day, it can challenge a photographer to take dozens of pictures in an effort to get the perfect one, and it can get someone back to a laptop or a notebook to write one more paragraph; one more sentence; one more word. 

Whatever someone else is doing is irrelevant.  The only competition is the person in the mirror.  The goal is to challenge, to improve, to run a race that has no finish line.  When it comes to passion and channeling it in a way that fulfills one’s purpose and trusting that singular voice that resides in the spirit, the sky is truly the limit.