Filomena Pucci’s Inspiring Book “Appassionate” Encourages People to Follow Their Passion

Photo courtesy of FilomenaPucci.wordpress.com

Pursuing a dream can be a scary thing, but for Filomena Pucci, it’s what lights a fire in her life.

Pucci, a writer for the respected newspaper, Corriere della Sera, has published her book Appassionate, which  tells the story of ten extraordinary women who decide to follow their passion.

“I define myself as a story hunter,” Pucci said, on an interview Wednesday afternoon. Appassionate (Passionate)  released as hard copy on June 2015 and is the first of Pucci’s books to be published- a fitting first book since the theme  is very true to Pucci’s belief in following your dreams.

The book includes ten short stories about women who make a change and live out their lives doing what they love. There’s one story about a woman who opens up a bakery for people with Celiac disease and another about a woman repainting the faces of dolls so that they have more realistic features. Although these short stories are all different topics, the common element among the women is their passion and courage.

“Matrice Donna” is the final story in the book and also one of Pucci’s favorites. It focuses on a famous Italian hairdresser living in Paris who used to do hair for models, but now she uses her skill to help struggling women. The women are dealing with financial troubles or the death of a loved one. She chose to use her success and talent to give women confidence and find their place in the world- something Pucci admires.

“We shouldn’t work for money,” said Pucci. “We should work to exchange who we are.”

What’s not included in the book is Pucci’s own story of the journey that has led her to write Appassionate. After she finished writing for television, Pucci began working at Corriere della Sera, where she introduced the idea of telling the stories of passionate women.

The book focuses only on women because Pucci believes that women bring a new perspective of how we see the world.

“I wanted to surround myself with examples of women,” she said.”They are the future.”

To fund for the cost of traveling and finding these stories, Pucci started a crowd funding project, where people donate money to help achieve her goal. After raising enough money, she began the nine-month journey to writing Appassionate.

Since the book’s release, Pucci’s life has changed tremendously, especially in how she views herself.

“Something in myself has really changed. I have no doubts anymore,” she said. “I am a writer.”

And a writer she is. She’s received messages from readers saying that her book has given them the courage to follow their own dreams. Appassionate is currently being translated to English to reach a larger audience so that more people can see the effects of doing what you love.

While Pucci continues to promote her book, she has some future projects in the works. She hopes to team up with the Institute of International Education of Students, an American study abroad organization that has over 125 programs in more than 35 countries. She hopes to work with the company in Rome to create two new classes: one on how journalism has developed over the years and the tools it now needs, and the other about gender. Pucci got the inspiration for the gender class while reading a book that tells the history of the world from a woman’s perspective, and she was amazed at how many laws were written to prevent women from exercising their rights. She also wants to produce short weekly clips telling inspiring stories of passionate women for a TV program in the near future.

“Passion isn’t something you can touch- it’s a determination,” Pucci said. “It is something that makes you feel alive.”

You can buy the Italian version of Appassionate  at Amazon or Ultima Books Store.

The English version is currently in process.

-Meki Shewangizaw