Two things I didn’t know about enthusiasm

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I had the best call with the best people this week. 

Every time I share the Zoom space with my fellow Roadies, it grounds me in remembering why I joined the community in the first place. 

It’s because I’m amongst my people.

Those people that just get it. 

I came out of the call knowing I was looked after and ‘safe’. 

As weird as that may sound, you know that feeling that you’ve been seen and heard? 

That’s what ‘safe’ feels like to me. 

Creativity is a lonely endeavour. 

You often find yourself trying to evoke everything you’re carrying onto a blank canvas, and then figuring out what it means. It takes so much energy and emotion to be able to handle this process from chaos to some sort of order. 

Sharing this experience with someone who isn’t from this world can be difficult. 

But not with the Roadies. 

Because they are going through the same thing.

On the call this week, one of my creative peers shared a perspective on enthusiasm that stopped me in my tracks - that it could be a skill we can develop. 

I’d never considered this possible before. 

Developing enthusiasm at this point in my life, when I struggle with attachment for long periods of time, does seem rather impossible. 

(But then again, I didn’t know designing a bookmark daily was possible and here I am).

I’ve been mulling over the word ‘enthusiasm’ since the call. 

For me, this word has always associated itself with the concept of energy, and a sense of wanting to be there or do something.

You see a more excited aura in a person if they are enthusiastic. 

But I’ve never associated the word with developing it as a skill. 

I felt it important to slow down and see where the word came from. 

Whilst the idea of developing it as a skill stopped me in my tracks, I was also surprised to see the root and associations with its journey to the English word we use today. 

The word ‘enthusiasm’ first needs to be broken down into two parts which were historically based in the Greek language. 

The first is en-, which is a word-forming element meaning ‘in’ or ‘into’. This stems from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *en meaning ‘in’. 

This PIE root has also formed all or part of words like ‘empire’, ‘employ’ and ‘interior. 

The second part is theos-, meaning ‘God’, which is from the PIE root *dhes- which is possibly an extension of *dhe- which means ‘to set’ or ‘to put’. 

This root forms all or part of words like ‘atheism’, ‘feast’ or ‘theocracy’. 

This is the second aspect that stopped me in my tracks.

That enthusiasm was rooted in divinity. 

From the two separate elements, we see the word ‘entheos’ in the Greek language, meaning ‘divinely inspired’ or ‘possessed by a God’. 

The word then evolved into ‘enthousiasmos’ - a Greek term meaning ‘divine inspiration’. 

We see its movement into the Late Latin term ‘enthusiasmus’; the Middle French word ‘enthousiasme’ and to finally arrive in the English language in around 1600 as ‘enthusiasm’, meaning ‘an intense and eager enjoyment, interest or approval’. 

It is obvious that the concept of being eager and intense has remained consistent from the root and right through the route to the present day. 

But, for it to be a skill that can be developed, and the idea of divinity being at the root of the word, I admit these are two perspectives I wasn’t prepared for. 

Some creatives, like myself, feel we are channels for the Divine who brings creativity into the world through us. 

But enthusiasm can only be developed if we approach it as we do our creativity - by showing up and doing the work each day to honour the Divine.

Enthusiasm is a *creative skill* that we can develop. 

And so, I suppose my further takeaway from this week isn’t just understanding its etymology, but actually it is deciding to take a more forward-looking approach to develop enthusiasm as a creative skill myself.