• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Margie ClaymanMargie Clayman

Marietta, OH

  • About Me
  • Marketing
  • Librarianship
  • Random Musings
  • Contact Me

#passionplayers – Molly Cantrell-Kraig

September 21, 2015 by Margie Clayman 2 Comments

MCK full color head shot

When I thought about the concept of starting a conversation about passion here on my blog, I knew that one of the people I would most want to hear from would be Molly Cantrell-Kraig. Lo and behold, she is kicking off the series! I have known Molly for about five years now (although unfortunately we have not met in person….yet…) and she embodies passion so far as I am concerned. Her work for Women with Drive Foundation has always inspired me.

I asked Molly six questions, which are the questions all #PassionPlayers recipients will receive. I loved her answers – I think you will too.

1. How do you define “passion”? 

Passion is a smoldering, sustaining energy. It’s a fuel that may ebb, but it never goes away.
2. What is your passion?
Helping people become themselves. There’s something humbling and miraculous about partnering with another to co-create his or her future. We are mirrors of each other, and when we can connect with those along the way to help us recognize and develop our higher selves, that’s a sacred transaction.
I can’t think of anything more invigorating.
3. How did you know that this was a passion and not just a passing interest?
It wouldn’t go away. Opportunities to help people become themselves kept on popping up in my life, like some cosmic Whack-A-Mole. The tools and partners I needed to move forward would show up when needed. Furthermore, when things were looking their bleakest and I would think of giving up, some glimmer of hope would always present itself.
WWDF logo verticalThink of it as being in a dark room and thinking that you’re going to be trapped inside forever, and then seeing a sliver of light from a door, slightly ajar. The slant of illumination beckoning from beyond the doorway always served as a thread to my next iteration.
4. How do you make sure you follow your passion and nurture it?
I learned how to be quiet, shut out the chorus of Others and attuned myself to my higher voice. Learning this was an excruciating process, because the valley of the shadow of death is a lonely place. A great poem about this stripping away is Theodore Roethke’s “In a Dark Time.”
I also have a group of friends to whom I refer as My Inner Sanctum Crazy Margaret Mead People. These folks are the angels in my life who remind me that I’m not crazy and this will all work out. These are they who remind me of what I’ve already accomplished and encourage me to keep going. They see my blind spots and give me opportunities to grow.
In terms of following your passion, I love Steve Jobs’s quote about learning how to say “no.” Building your passion can be a selfish act, and you must be ruthless about saying no to things that drain and distract you from your ultimate goal.
5. What is your advice to other people who are trying to find or follow their passion?
Shift your brain to its Possibility Setting. Most of us are born with this setting as our default, but as we progress through school and careers, the switch gets flipped to “Fear and Risk.” Ask yourself a few questions:
• What is something I do without thinking that others marvel at my ability to do/accomplish?
• What are activities that I do where I lose track of time or forget to eat?
• When I serve on boards or volunteer, which task is usually mine?
• Ask aloud, “Please show me what’s possible.”
• Speak aloud, “I am willing to recognize opportunity.”
• ALWAYS thank people for helping you, no matter how insignificant their assistance may seem. Gratitude is fuel. Passion thrives on it.
6. Anything else you want to say?
I’m working with an expert on impact investing to develop the next stage of WWDF. During one of our meetings, he said, “You do realize what you’re doing for women through WWDF you could be doing for individuals as part of a coaching business?”
His observation startled me into laughter. “Of course! … Of course I could!” was my answer. So our passions don’t change necessarily. They manifest and morph into different forms. Since he and I chatted, I’ve begun to help people become themselves by working with them to navigate transitions, be they personal or business. For those who would like to know more about working directly with me, ping me at infoplease.lodestar@gmail.com.

Filed Under: PassionPlayers

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. mckra1g says

    September 21, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    Thank you so much for asking me to participate, Margie. There are so many people who inspired me to follow my passion ~ having others who follow their dreams emboldens us to follow our own. Thank you for taking the time to leave these digital bread crumbs for others. 🙂

    Reply
  2. AndreaDonahue says

    September 22, 2015 at 12:11 am

    Those are excellent questions. Seemingly simple but they help you pinpoint your own passions.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Post: « Dear @DirecTV – Your Randy Moss Ad is HORRIBLY Offensive
Next Post: Book Review: I am Malala »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Book Review: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • Book Review: Land of Lincoln, by Andrew Ferguson
  • The portrayal of the infertile woman in entertainment
  • Chapter 3: A Weird Thing Happened Today
  • Chapter 2: The First Fixings

Recent Comments

  • Delores Baskerville on Are you locking out blog subscribers?
  • frank c tripoli on Book Review: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • Lyv on #30Thursday number 10 (we’re in the double digits?!?)
  • Fitoru on New Recipes, 2013
  • Anna Wyatt on Help me petition to deactivate driver-side airbags for Little People

Archives

  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2017
  • October 2016
  • July 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2007
  • April 2007

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Crafts and Charity
  • Gardening for Renters
  • Marketing Talk
  • Molly Maggie McGuire
  • Musings
  • PassionPlayers
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Footer

marjorie.clayman@gmail.com

   

Margie Clayman © 2021