Jennifer Funnell

Hi all!!!

Been a while!

Lets set up today’s little scene, 

I’m finishing up drafting this post on my bedroom floor and listening to one of my best friends co-host a radio show, isn’t that so cool? It’s inspiring really. I’m wondering if I should nip out and get a coffee from the Cally before writing this up. I’m still recovering from last night, what a rager! It was such a wild night that I ended up impulsively (and drunkly) buying a £40 printworks merch hoodie, which I think is my new fave item of clothing. It’s kind of verging on ironic, like a London club-scene version of the IHEARTNY t-shirts. 

Now back to my radio-hosting friend, she’s the type of girl to get really into the stuff she enjoys. Someone who seems to love dedicating time to exploring and learning about new interests, you can tell from just having a conversation with her. Thinking about it, I think all of friends are like that – I’m lucky to have them! So for this blog post today, I’m giving the people in my life their own spotlights to share their thoughts about the topic of ‘Passion’ – a topic I talk about a lot on here!

Entry #1

Ok so (this is how I start every diary entry lol) when I saw Jenny’s message I had just done a 2 hour training on the pottery wheel so let me tell you the timing was nothing short of predominant. (I don’t really know what that means it’s a quote from the office)

Passion. It is such an ambiguous word for me because every time I hear it to me it sounds like passion . seriously, the word carries so much weight because, as someone non-religious & not at all into philosophy (bear this in mind pls & sorry), it seems to be the crux of life (ew cringe). It has been a constant point of stress to find my passion & thus acquire goals & ultimately the motivation to get out of bed in the morning.

But on to my passion…

I love pottery, I love ceramics, I love the texture of clay & glaze, I love it all. I don’t know how to describe it & feel a certain frustration that I cannot express eloquently & concisely why I love ceramics. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s kinda niche? No, I don’t think that’s it. (I really am not in touch with my emotions jeez) but I just can’t put into words how much I love it. This sounds like my personal statement but I get to be creative & also do science (ew cringe). The honing of a practical skill, the transformation in the kiln. Not to be dramatic but ceramics has been around for centuries for a reason. It is so tactile & physical & challenging as you go through the process & at the end you get a little pot? a little dish? that you made? all by yourself? & the texture of it? the feel of the glaze? I’m sold. I’m hooked. Just you wait –in 40 years time I’m becoming a little village potter baker girl cottage-core gardening reading. Ceramics helps me connect with that dream & I get a little reward at the end – provided all the steps go well. (reading back that was terribly put but I don’t know how else to express myself). I just feel like screaming, screeching, shrieking with joy at anything vaguely ceramics related. I feel this way with lots of things but particularly ceramics and I really hope people know what I mean and experience it because its just so much fun.

(Aside: I have gone away & returned with some thoughts (lies, I didn’t really) & what I truly love is knowing things, learning things. (wow that’s probs why I love reading). Maybe that will one day transcend into me doing something but for now I’m just collecting little nuggets & that is just also so much fun.)

This was hard to write as whilst thinking about one passion my mind flew to another. It has made me realise how much I love my life (as I sit here with a swollen lip, bruised chin & severely dehydrated). Life really is just me doing little tasks & having a girly girl time (for now at least) it’s like a video game. It isn’t real in the best way possible. So thank you to <Jenny3 for making me write this paragraph ❤ & sorry if it’s a bit long and disjointed. I tried to put my feelings down eloquently & concisely, but I guess it reflects my true thoughts on passion .

Entry #2

My main hobby which brings me so much happiness and love is dance. I find when I’m in a dance class I am able to fully immerse myself into it and I seem to forget about all my worries and anxieties outside of the class. Because I have such a passion and love for dance I’m able to just focus on the routine and movements in the moment without my mind wondering anywhere else. I love how I’m able to release my emotions and own experiences into the dance im doing which really helps me on a day to day basis as it allows a safe space to convey my feelings in a creative way. The feeling of finishing a dance, having done well is actually unbeatable – the pure exhilaration and happiness it brings me is unlike anything else. Stepping onto a stage and the lights hitting your face fills me with excitement as I’m standing there with my friends, about to show something that we have all worked on collaboratively and as a team is incredible. The amount of love that fills me with is just incredible and it brings me a real passion to life knowing that I’ll always have dance and the experiences and feelings of fulfilment it brings.

Entry #3

I think what makes me the most happy is noticing the beauty in a person. Like when I learn something new about them or when I really really understand someone. That moment of mutual understanding where I see someone who for who they are in all their nuance and all their beauty, and they see me for that and we accept each other. 

Entry #4

Hi jenny this is my passion submission. Really it just feels like I am writing a letter to you, which now that I think about it would be very cute. I can already tell this is going to be very rambly so you might just have to cut some stuff out.

Ok so let’s start by making a simple list of passions. Or maybe not no. we’ll start with my most recent passion. I have been very interested in art lately. Not so much creating it but learning about it. It all started with an impulse purchase of the story of art without men. Which spiralled into an obsession with all things art – specifically contemporary art, and art theory. But what I love love love most is when things crossover. When worlds collide. I recently saw the Alice Neel exhibition and was so happy when I saw her painting on Andy Warhol; I had been watching a documentary on him which talked about this specific painting. I now have it as a postcard on my wall. Linked to this I am passionate about how academia interacts with the arts. My favourite example of this is a paper I read on how the randomness of Jackson Pollocks paint splatters from fractals. How cool!! In general, I love learning new things, and connecting these things to things that I already know. Not to be a nerd but learning and reading is so fun. Lastly, I think that I am passionate about my friends. There are certain people in my life that I feel literally bonded forever too. That sounds quite ominous, I do mean it in a cute way. I love seeing them thrive and grow. Oh no I forgot one more thing I am passionate about. This is becoming quite spiritual, but I am passionate about passion. About feeling and perceiving life. Sometimes I find it so fascinating the breadth of feelings we can come across in a human lifetime. Of course, these thoughts only come after the moment. Not many times I have been crying and though wow how cool is human emotion. But there is so much passion in everyday life. And I try to fill my life with things and people that I am passionate about.

Entry #5 – writing about her passion for the sky

When looking up at the sky I can attain a sense of peace. The sky is always present it provides permanence but also excitement as you never know what is coming next. The rapid changeability between different weather types reflects my life; chaotic but expected, so therefore I feel I can relate to the sky in some peculiar but strangely sentimental way.

These 5 entries bring me pure joy and make me want to delve more into my own interests. Dad recently gifted me a ton of art books for my big 19. I’ll get reading!!!

So reader, do you have a passion? What do you think about the subject?

I hope these entries have brought some inspiration! 

Not much from me today, I’ll be back soon with a post about ACID JAZZ!!! You all don’t know what’s coming.

As always, Thanks for reading.

Jenny 

song of the week: Number 1 by Goldfrapp