I just finished a World War II novel called Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Then I started watching the Masterpiece show Atlantic Crossing. People ask me often how after 30 years of researching, writing, and speaking about World War II, I could still be so interested in the subject. “Don’t you get tired of it?” they ask.
But how do you grow weary of a subject that encompasses the full range of human experience and emotion? A time period that brought out the absolute worst in humanity but also the best? A war that spanned 50 countries and countless millions of personal stories?
Who can say why some passions are fleeting — like my brief desire to learn ballroom dancing — and some stay with us for a lifetime? Who can say why some of us feel “called” to a profession from an early age and spend our entire careers in that field, and others move from interest to interest, job to job? Who can say why something can feel so good for so long, and then one day it just doesn’t?
“Follow your passion,” we’re told. But the expression should be “follow your passions,” whatever they may be and however they may change. In this country, the first question we ask a stranger is “What do you do?” We want someone’s work to define them. If someone changes careers often, rather than admiring their constant curiosity and dedication to learning, we call them “flaky” or…
