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I surround myself with friends who wear their passions, their dramas, on their sleeves and regale me with stories of the exotic, the experiential, the practical, and the mystical. They are always “on fire.”

Let me introduce you to my friend Jim. He used to hold a high-profile position in the Defense Department and now works for a private firm offering creative business solutions to clients. He is one of those people who frequently tells “I caught a fish this big” stories, with one big difference: his stories are all true. Whether he’s been in Baghdad or Philadelphia, when he talks, his stories command attention. His larger-than-life stories are told with the eagerness of a curious child. More than anything else, though, what attracts me to his stories is the passion with which he tells them. Here is a man who has the right to be jaded, and maybe should be, based on all the horrific scenes he has witnessed in war-torn zones around the world. Yet he isn’t. His curiosity about life is contagious.

“I want to travel to Australia and spend time with this tribe on this remote island,” he tells me. Why? It has nothing to do with what he does at work. “The world is so big, there is so much to learn. I want to be out there learning. How do they do what they do? Can it help us? How does biology help us? How does physics? I want to be out there and learn. You never know what a tribe is doing well that could help us deal with the problem of eradicating a disease or hunger or … I want to learn.” And that he does, occasionally running away to Japan, or to Arizona to study the border patrol solution and learn how to apply those principles in other areas. One evening with Jim and you want to fly to the Himalayas and see what it takes to climb them, or to Vegas and see how the Bellagio really runs—he just has a lust for life and its adventures.

If I need the history of anything, I listen to my friend Rami. Janet has taught me how to enjoy nature by learning about the leaves, flowers, and little creatures that inhabit our neighborhood. My friend Nazu, a writer, spends her free time as a clown doctor; her stories always teach me humility. All of these friends have full-time jobs, but that is not what defines them; what sets them apart is their passion—this is what makes them different. Their varied ethnicities and backgrounds lend completely different flavors and seasonings to their tales. Their ardent fervor for life lifts my spirits and refills my creative reservoir with wonderment. They are not all Pollyannas but they do all have positive energy that I find uplifting.

It’s true that while just one conversation with any of these people results in the birth of innumerable ideas, more importantly, it reignites my own passion for my work.

Who are some of the passionate people in your life?