whitetiger wrote:
NT's call them "passions." When AS'ers have them, they are "special interests," and "obsessions."
I like "special interest" better than "passion," because a passion seems to be carried out in an emotional, illogical way.
Now, if I was to say that I have a passion for the Blues, you would assume it meant I liked listening to the stuff and nothing more. This is not right. If I say I am especially interested in the Blues, I think this more accurately describes it, for every day I analyse lyrics in my head to understand them; every day I play certain songs in my mind; etc.
So I think that others can keep their passions. I shall have special interests instead (I shall admit, though, that an obsessed person is scary).
Other current special interests of mine: poetry (not stuff about such things as feelings though, but rather about beauty itself), aesthetics, ethics, noise.