Musings: Passion vs. extremism

Think about what differentiates having a passion (lifelong learning, youth education and mentoring, culture and the fine or folk arts, etc.) from being an extremist (radical Republican, Democrat, Christian, Islamist, etc.). It may mean the difference between focusing on the positive and focusing on the negative, from being proactionary to being reactionary. On the one hand, a person of passion preserves intact his or her respect for others; on the other hand, a person of extremism has literally "gone off the deep end" and loses all perspective for objectivity and, usually, intellectual and emotional honesty.

Think about why people marginalize themselves as they gradually interpret the world in ever-widening chasms of this vs. that and us vs. them. Perhaps it happens mostly for reasons of fear or bitterness. I say, Choose hope in every case instead. Hope really does make a difference.