Passion vs. Obsession

I would define passion as an intense enjoyment or love of something. It can be applied to a lot of things in life. Some people have passions for sports, hobbies, or learning, and other people apply it to relationships. However, to me a passion is not something that constantly takes up your times and is always in your thoughts throughout your day. You can control how much time you spend on whatever hobby or subject it is.

Obsession is similar to passion in that you really enjoy a particular thing or person. However, it’s more extreme and to the point that you’re unable to stop thinking about that thing or person. People with obsessions tend to care less about everything else in their life that isn’t somehow related to the object of their obsession.

I don’t think that having a passion for something is a very dangerous idea. People can usually control their passions and focus on other things when they need to. I do believe that certain obsessions can end badly for someone who has them. Individuals who have obsessions with learning and traveling, like Robert Walton for example, may end up learning things that they never really wanted to know and end up in places that they never wanted to be. People who have obsessions with other people are technically called stalkers, and that’s just no good at all. So yes, I’d say that obsessions are not always healthy.

I have what’s probably borderline passion and obsession about the television show Supernatural. I really enjoy it, and sometimes I do have a hard time not talking about it with other people who may not necessarily care. Of course I can stop thinking about it in order to focus on schoolwork and other things that I need to get done, but I can go off on it in conversation for a really long time if given the chance. It’s not the worst thing I could be obsessed with, but sometimes people think I’m weird because of it.