On pages 62-64 in It’s What I Do, Addario tells the story of her grandmother’s missed chance at love to prove a point that passion will always overcome convenience. She explains how her grandmother described her relationship with a man named Sal to be very passionate, thrilling, and memorable. However, she ended things with Sal, who was quite poor, to marry a man named Ernie who gave her more freedom and rationality in her life. At the end of this anecdote, Addario writes, “I never wanted to regret the kisses I missed” (Addario 64). She writes this after explaining how her grandmother described the way she longed for Sal’s kiss, even though she was married to Ernie. Her grandmother wonders what it would have been like to live her entire life with someone who she was extremely passionate about, rather than someone who was practical to be married to. This provides insight into how Addario thinks about her passion because it shows that she is very aware of what she loves and does not want to miss her opportunity to continue to live out her passion. Even if it is difficult and does not provide her with enough money, nothing can make her feel the way her passion of photography does, and she does not want to miss a moment of it.

Many personal stories of mine pop into my head when I think of my passion, but one of which is very special to me. I always grew up a bit bitter on the idea of love. I thought something was wrong with me and that I could never be loved. My three older brothers all had girlfriends throughout high school, and my parents were even high school sweethearts. So, why could I not have that too? I would get annoyed at the words, “I love you”, and I was so condescending towards myself at too young of an age. One day, during my junior year of high school, my three-year-old cousin Chloe and I were playing outside. Out of the blue, she turned to me and told me she loved me. I was so shocked to hear these words come out of her mouth that I began to tear up. It then hit me that I am so loved by so many people, and love is a real thing. It is not all about holding hands and going on dates, but it is about the relationships you make and the time you spend with the everyday people in your life. All it took was the words of a toddler to teach me that. I want more people to understand the real meaning of love and how to live their lives full of it. Similar to the way Addario feels about her passion, I believe that life is way too short to do anything but love.  With more love and more loving people and actions, amazingly positive changes can be made to the life we all live.

-C. Hart