Do What You Love and Love What You Do

I recently wrote a post on Facebook. 

I want to linger on this idea of working with passionate people:

Work is an integral part of our life. 

Work is how we spend our time, an opportunity to pursue passions, 

and a chance to changing the lives of others. 

WORK IS HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME:
Hours spent.
Days spent.
Years spent.
Time with some people, time away from others.
Time commuting to and from work.
Alarm clocks and deadlines.
Culmination of your life is based on the work that we do in our career.

WORK IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE PASSION.
At a dinner party, when someone asks, "so, what do you do?" is your response "I work in PR." Or is your response something more to the effect of "I'm currently writing a book about digital lesson planning. Want to hear about it?"

WORK IS A CHANCE TO CHANGE LIVES.
When you team up with the right people, magic CAN happen. Whether its a partner at your school site, a grade level team, someone across the district you work with, or a new buddy on Twitter -- find that someone who is going to help you change lives. Find the person who will push you to take risks, try new things, talk through concerns about students, and encourage you to be the change.

Jen Perazzo-Maina and Charles Maina are a great example of this lesson, too. For years now, they have been quietly doing their thing. Passionate about Charles's native roots, and staying connected to Kenya from across the world, they started their own Safari company. Their company, Overlander Safaris, leads families around different countries in Africa. More recently, Jen and Charles merged their two passions together to form Elimu Safari -- an Educational Journey where teachers work in schools and experience a traditional African safari. They have been doing what they love, and loving what they do!

From my own personal experience with Elimu Safari, I have been reminded of how important it is to DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO! And doing it with people you love to work with makes the work even more meaningful and wonderful!