Food for thought.

I started reading Jennifer 8 Lee's The Fortune Cookie Chronicles today, and something the author said really made me think.

'Charitably, you could describe me as "passionate" about Chinese food. Passions seem lively and motivating, while obsessions sound dark and vaguely deviant. But the line between passion and obsession is a wobbly one.'

She went on to talk about how obsessions pick and control us more than we pick and control them. That had me thinking of the time I almost backed out of a much-anticipated Lawry's lunch with the girls as I was - I admit - obsessed with completing one of my first freelance food articles.

The realisation was startlingly clear. I was, once upon a time, driven by adrenaline and hair-tearing, overzealous passion. I was, once upon a time, obsessed with work. It's a rousing and somewhat scary thought. Thankfully, that obsession has, over time, dulled into a slow-burning passion. You would rarely find me in the office after 6.30pm these days, unless it's production crunch-time. And it's become a lot easier to fix up appointments and dinner dates with me as compared to the start of my career, when I would leave office to go home and write.

And you know what? I'm feeling so much better now that I'm not all strung up. I guess it does help to have a wholly successful boss who would, once in awhile, remind me that 'work is not everything'.

Balance. This could be one of my buzzwords for 2011. :)