What are you choosing to be enthusiastic about in 2024?
Enthusiasm is the power source for your curiosity. It’s how you care long enough to get somewhere good and learn something new (and maybe even learn something amazing). It’s a self-renewing resource (the more you nerd out, the more you want to nerd out) and in Thoreau’s words it’s a “supernatural serenity” that will plaster a smile over your face for the rest of the day. And, of course, it’s a really fantastic way to annoy your enemies. That too.
Above all, it’s a choice. We don’t get to choose what life throws at us - but we do get to pick what parts of life we throw ourselves at. That, right there, feels like a pretty good way to wrestle a bit of order from the chaos of the everyday.
So: what are you going to be enthusiastic about this year?
Here are some tips, courtesy of a dog called Stella who is highly enthusiastic about leaves:
I’m enthusiastically pursuing being more intentional with my wife and kids. I’m eagerly planning simple ways to spend time with each of them individually and all together as a family.
One of the advantages of being in a non-fiction bookclub is that you come across books that you would never otherwise see. Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't Understand was great fun and sparked some eye-opening conversations, declarations, admissions on the evening. I would never have read this without it being a bookclub choice.
Example from the book (which has stayed with me): A couple are driving in a car. The woman passenger asks 'do you want to stop for a break?' The man replies (truthfully) 'no, I'm fine'. She was showing an interest in him which wasn't reciprocated. Perhaps she wanted to stop. He takes the question at face value as concerning him only, answers truthfully, and sees no problem.
Drs John and Julie Gottman call these bids for emotional connection -- the fundamental unit of a couple’s emotional connection in fact. Interesting stuff at the Gottman Institute!
The thing that struck me, and to which I am now sensitised, is the asymmetry.
She was engaging and looking for connection, being considerate and desiring reciprocal consideration.
He read it as a factual question, and answered it as such.
Neither is 'right', and neither approach is the 'best' or 'right' one, as both a correct. What IS valuable here is the be aware, and understanding of the other's way of thinking.
Empathy is the only thing that has a shot at saving this world; not to go total John Lennon, but imagine if every interaction could be based in that desire to understand where the other person is coming from 🤔
I've been interested in Carl Gustav Jung & I want to look deeper into his ideas. Maybe a book or AT LEAST an article. Maybe look further into Gaugin or Van Gogh.
This year I'm getting married - at age 50, having never been married before and always been a little ambivalent about the institution of marriage. I'm biting the bullet, exploring what commitment means to me and even finding the joy in the stressful business of wedding planning 😜
I'm choosing to enthusiastically not freak out about things I can't control. My accounting software lost several months of transactions. I'm dealing with it by reading this email and thread of lovely comments. When I revisit my taxes later, maybe those transactions will be there, along with the positive vibes from this post. HOORAY TAXES.
Beth, chances are there's a backup somewhere. If not, you should get in the habit of making them, so you can say enthusiastically "whatever happens, I'm covered."
Oh that happened to me recently Beth, but a tech friend was able to guide me to the place in cyberspace where all the earlier versions of a document are stored (even ones you didn't save). Sadly I can't recall how I got there, but do you have a tech friend who might know these gems too?
I'm interviewing for promotions, at company locations in different states. This is it for me: If I get any of the openings, I finally have the money and reason to move out of my parents' house and my hometown. I also finally make the jump from line worker to management, after more than a decade in my position. This is my new Big Scary Thing, and I'm ready to do it in 2024
Work is a great thing to be enthusiastic about. So few are. This is a lot of change in your life at once and you'll grow from it like nobody's business.
I'm very excited for my own first year of writing here on Substack. I've met and gotten to know some amazing folks like Mike over the last year, and I go into this year understanding how the platform works AND how to write SO MUCH better than last year. I'm excited for my truly first full year here.
I'm enthusiastic about everyone's fiction here on Substack, and the writing of my own science fiction anthology, the building of a world all my own. I'm excited to share that with others, finish it, publish it and have it be carried by my hometown library. And of course, I'm enthusiastic about Mike Sowden's Everything Is Amazing. Because how can you not be when there are so many amazing things out there for Mike to do all the work and discover and report on for those of us who are lazy!
My dog had a year of poor health in 2023 but she seems to have turned a corner. I’m enthusiastic about long walks, trips to the sea and jumping into piles of leaves with her.
I am enthusiastically pursuing my creative side - classes and practice and exploring different styles and mediums of paint AND more writing...I am enthusiastically exploring the PNW by trail...and I am enthusiastically chasing after what brings joy (that's not really a new one for me). If it isn't a "hell yeah!" it's probably going to be a no this year.
Food and words! This last year I've started working in a kitchen again, which gives me time and space to work on my fundamentals - tidy up my cuts, tune up my weigh-by-feel. As for words, this last year was spent polishing up my vocabulary and descriptions, so this year I'm working on mechanics - syllable measure, cadence, rhyme. Time to get back into poetry.
This is great! After a long period of being away from cooking (mostly for my family) I’m cooking for myself. I listen to episodes of The New Yorker fiction podcast as I do so. It slows me down and helps me with my focus. Bonus: two activities that I do just for myself. I make up my own recipes. I have my own style of mise en place (big cutting board instead of a lot of small bowls) and don’t worry about anyone criticizing my knife skills.
Caesura is a fantastic word to describe this process.
But there’s nothing that could top Stella’s tail wagging above the pile of leaves.❤️
From Robin to......caesura.....Roblyn! Best of luck in your cooking endeavors. Great Idea listening to the New Yorker fiction podcast. I'll have to give that a try. Happy New Year.
Me too! I'm learning to spin so I can make a pair of socks from scratch using Soay wool gathered on St Kilda. I'm excited by craft and textiles....and poetry. I plan to expand my poetic horizons by engaging with new poets as I tend to revisit old favourites too much.
I get told often I'm TOO enthusiastic. I feel sorry for the people who "accuse" me of that. They must lead such grey lives.
That sounds so exciting! I sort of wish I could knit, but then again, it would take away crocheting time...can we have a few more hours a day just dedicated to hobbies please?
I just moved into a new place and I’m choosing to be enthusiastic about the forest in my backyard! I want to learn the habits of the wildlife that lives here. I want to learn more about the land and hopefully start my garden this year.
A timely post -- I’ve been thinking about this for a couple weeks. 2024 is a pretty loaded year, and there’s lots that I’m enthusiastic about related to that: the US elections, Olympics, family/kids/personal and career changes starting to peek above the horizon...
Personally, there are a number of things I’m throwing myself at, however futilely. I just started taking piano lessons (starting from basically zero) and love the feeling of trying to learn something very difficult for me. Dedicating myself to health and fitness goals. Starting a new writing project (that I’ll probably integrate into my Substack as a chapter-by-chapter sandbox). Taking a trip, just for me -- maybe the Faroe Islands? It just sounds wonderful to spend a week hiking around that incredible landscape and commune with the puffins (do you or anyone else know much about it? Hints?). I’m just crazy optimistic about this year, however unwarranted that is, and shaking my head that almost 3.5% of it is gone already. At least we get an extra day!
(I should cut/save this so a year from now I can have a good laugh about what an idiot I was...)
I’m enthusiastic about becoming a first time mom. It’s been a challenge to not get bogged down by the cultural belief my generation has about raising kids in the current political, economic and social climate...
But for me, being able to conceive and birth then raise a child seems to be a negative these days. So I’m trying to consume positivity over negative or just plain apathy.
Ali, this is so cool. Being a mom is my favorite thing. Tomorow, I'm writing about shedding other voices so we can listen to the voice within. Your story is a beautiful example of that.
As you know, Mike, I am *always* enthusiastic about birds, but I’ll be taking it to new heights (depths?) this year, partly by writing extra weekly posts about them on my Substack, but also by enrolling on an excellent online course about bird biology, run by Cornell University. I’ve just started, and it’s ace, inspiring me to even greater levels of enthusiasm (if such a thing were possible). Oh, and I’m reading War and Peace as part of Simon Haisell’s excellent ‘chapter a day for a year’ readalong.
Gardening at sea level for the first time ever! 👩🏻🌾
I wasn’t really interested before we moved to the mountains (where everything is just much harder to grow with less air and much less water). I know the Texas summer will kick me in the ass but I’m hoping to enthusiastically grow some of the flowers, fruits and vegetables I’ve been dreaming of. 🧡
Making friends! I’m moving to a new country soon and, being an introvert, I’m not naturally great at putting myself out there. But I want to make an effort right out of the gate because I know it will pay dividends! So I’m going to try to table my fears, put on my extrovert hat for a bit, and enthusiastically meet as many people as possible.
I smiled at the word 'hat'. I've aways wanted to be the kind of person that would wear a panama with panache. Abroad, no-one knows me so I can redefine myself, play the character. New hat, new me.
I'm enthusiastically pursuing to write more and be more intentional with my goals, specially about finishing writing my first book, that I hope will be out by the end of the year
I have long been enthusiastic about walks, books, bicycles, and typewriters and lately I've been upping my enthusiasm for carving rubber stamps to illustrate my stories.
Love that dog, Stella. Can I have me some of that, please? This year I'm enthusiastic about a lot of things, but taking it slowly. For now, I'm enthusiastic about living more intentionally with the seasons and lunar cycles. I'll take it from there. 🌙
I really started to be aware of full moons when I first discovered the Lunar Society, a club of industrialists, philosophers and intellectuals around 1800 in the Midlands of the UK who would meet on the night of the full moon.
"Once a month, William Caslon gave a musical soiree on the night of the full moon, not from lycanthropic tendencies but as a courtesy to his guests, who, if they had drunk too much (Caslon brewed an excellent light beer in his household), could nevertheless have a reasonable light for their return journeys and avoid falling into the ditches."
The French Republican Calendar was an attempt to make people (well, those in cities, not directly exposed to nature) more aware of the season changes by associating each day of the year with the plants, fruits, vegetables that were in season at the point. 23 January was the day of the snow-drop etc. It lasted from 1793ish to 1805, so more-or-less the same time as the Lunar Society of Birmingham. Coincidence? or a desire for order and understanding that comes out of the Enlightenment? (my money is on the second).
I love this. I’m trying to be enthusiastic about REAL rest. Which seems like an oxymoron, but a) I know I do my best most creative work when I’m rested, but sleep is always the first thing I sacrifice when I’m busy; and b) I used to think that not working = resting but I’ve found the last couple years that that’s not the case. Only a few things (like 7+ hours of sleep) are actually restful, the rest is just not working. I’m trying to enthusiastically pursue the things that feel genuinely restful. 😊😴
I'm so excited about the new family members I will rescue this year! The loss of any of my animals is crushing; mourning, however, is no honor to the joy they brought to my world. I celebrate the lives lived and will foster and rescue yet again to keep that joy rippling ever outward.
I am enthusiastically embracing new horizons in fermented foods! Natto and koji among others to see if they counteract the health effects of my genetic disposition to heart disease, my general proclivity for sloth and my other enthusiasms (is that a word?) of those other ferments like beer + wine. Luckily there are good intro classes online and the recipes are simple + tasty. Taking back old knowledge for future living. Bubbling with delight!
I'm learning the value of sharing what matters to me with others, whether they can, themselves, be supportive of the endeavor or not.
From 2017 through 2022, I spent literally 10% of my total lifespan rescuing my mother from the financial and business chaos of my father's passing (plus some assorted other issues.) In 2021, I shared with some friends that I really wanted my own weaving studio space in our home - trying to reclaim some of *my* life again. The studio came true later in 2022, as well as a related opportunity. 2023 I kind of found myself creating a weaving business, writing patterns, teaching, and having things published.
So 2024 - the enthusiasm is for building something creative in weaving for myself that also is helpful and supportive of others.
As growing another pair of legs and butterfly wings like your YouTube dog are probably off the cards I will continue to enthuse about the things I have spent a lifetime "nerding" over ... wildlife in general, birds in particular and gardening.
Richard, we share in common our enthusiasm for wildlife, and more specifically, our enthusiasm for the Carolina wren. I just read your "Tuning In -- King of all Birds" piece and, save for wanting to make way for there to be both kings and queens, I'm all in! 😊
I'm enjoying being on here more and more, and this year I'm going to add voice-over to my posts. I added one for the first time this week https://junegirvin.substack.com/p/me-and-my-voice and I've had so much positive feedback. My writing style is conversational and I hope that by including voice it will feel more intimate. I'm really enthusiastic about engaging with more people.
I’m very enthusiastic about, and happy for, the deconstruction of so many dams across the US, especially those on the Klamath and Eel rivers in Northern California. I’m also now hopeful the Snake River will become a free-flowing river too.
Enthusiastically looking at different ways to spur on my artistic side, from taking a printmaking class to going to art museums to trying to capture the art in nature through photography. And maybe writing about all of it.
Happy 2024! I'm enthusiastic about focusing on myself and what I can do rather than the things I can't. What do I mean by this? after years of self-comparing myself to others who are better off, I have finally accepted my simple living and would like to focus on my education as well as my writing:)
From Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (1889):
George said: “You know we are on a wrong track altogether. We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without.”
George comes out really quite sensible at times. You’d be surprised. I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life, generally. How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.
How they pile the poor little craft mast-high with fine clothes and big houses; with useless servants, and a host of swell friends that do not care twopence for them, and that they do not care three ha’pence for; with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with—oh, heaviest, maddest lumber of all!—the dread of what will my neighbour think, with luxuries that only cloy, with pleasures that bore, with empty show that, like the criminal’s iron crown of yore, makes to bleed and swoon the aching head that wears it!
Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
I'm with Stella. How I used to love jumping in the leaves when I was a kid. Now that I'm a senior citizen I'm more sedate, but not with enthusiasm. I mean, really, how could anyone be enthusiastic about that?
Here's what I am choosing to be enthusiastic about:
- exploring lots of hidden places in the nearby woods. There HAVE to be elves in there somewhere.
- reading lots of books about lots of topics
- drawing just for fun
- learning fascinating things, some of which I'll be able to cross off my "Gotta Know" list and others which will (sigh) add more to it.
- the joy in spending time with sympatico friends
- getting to do some or all of these every day for the rest of my life, and maybe even after.
I'm generally pretty enthusiastic about anything new and often worry that I'm just annoying the people around me. So thank you for reminding me that enthusiasm is a GOOD thing.
This year I'm taking a drawing class so am currently very enthusiastic about line weights and the smudgy glory of charcoal.
Enthusiasm isn't something I'm short of, optimism either - I'm more Pollyanna than Hayley Mills.
“There is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.” E.H.Porter
Apparently, it's a good trait to have…
For me, it's been a source of confusion, arguments and misunderstandings. While I do value it - I also despise the heavy sighs, the rolled eyes and being told that my thinking is unrealistic.
I think we all have something we can be glad about, that this can manifest into enthusiasm - an event to look forward to, a chat with a friend or loved one, knowing that we are appreciated unconditionally despite faults and flaws.
We must learn to be kinder to ourselves, to give ourselves a break from time to time… to treat ourselves with the same compassion and understanding that we show to others.
I'm going to be enthusiastic about getting out into the world more. Working from home, it's so easy to stay indoors and I often have the intention of getting out and then don't bother. This year is the year to get out into the wild more, also out beyond my boundaries to meet more people across the country .
I was gonna say 'making jewelry', because I've been having A LOT OF FUN doing that, but having watched Stella in all her joy, I believe that I am going to be enthusiastic about Woods Day, which is when I take my leashcats out to somewhere far enough into the woods that nobody's gonna get all weird about leashcats, & spend my time wandering around with my boys, and ALSO making jewelry.
Ballet, and dance in general. Taking dance class feels like art and meditation and making sculpture/poetry out of my body. My body is on a different path from the body next to mine so there's no point in comparison or how "good" I am, and there's also a sort of mathematical rightness there to strive for. It's both freedom and limitation. Art and constraint. A pirouette can always get cleaner, tighter, turn into a double- but also it really doesn't matter at all and the fact that I showed up is still enough. Ballet has completely transformed my life over the last couple of years. I take dance class about 4 times a week and every class there's something new to be found in my own body and in the story I'm making out of it.
If you've been thinking of taking a beginner adult dance class--- do it!!
I'm going to be spending a lot of time this year looking for funding sources for theatre projects. In the past I've found this to be really stressful (I mean *everyone* hates grant writing...am I right? Or am I?) So I've been thinking about the power of bringing my enthusiasm for the projects to the table. And exploring how I can get away from being really hung up about it all, and instead pitch from a place of enthusiasm. Oddly enough (not really) my most successful projects have been funded by me randomly saying to people - would you like to be involved with this? And them saying - YES PLEASE!
Queer community and being brave. I've spent too much time keeping quiet and too myself because of anxiety or other things. Now, because of Our Flag Means Death of all things (a tv show, for those who haven't seen), I have a space where I can be loud about the things I love and it feels amazing. We got the heartbreaking news that it was cancelled this week BUT we've been so united this week in our fan renewal campaign that it's been incredibly uplifting and energizing! (any other fans who see this: join us!)
Thank you for this post, btw, reading everyone's reasons for enthusiasm is lovely <3
I’m enthusiastic about not living in fear of, whatever, loss of the electrical grid (I live in Texas and suffer from deep freeze 2021 PTSD) basically anything I have no control over. I’m enthusiastically kicking fear to the curb.
I feel you! Here in Montana we woke up to minus 31 this morning. It gets very cold here but holy buckets that was something. Then our newish fancy furnace decided to stop working-WTF? Try getting an HVAC company out on any Saturday in winter here, but minus 31? Fortunately my partner grabbed the install book and discovered the exhaust on the roof had frozen shut. Stay warm my friend, everything is temporary!
I’m enthusiastic about the community I’m going to build despite moving to a new place and starting from scratch. Saying this in January feels like I’m taking hold of the future instead of it taking hold of me. Excited for the possibilities. It’s hard being community in your 30s especially being a new dad. But that’s a story I’m willing to let go of.
I’m enthusiastic about learning to cook and truly eat as healthy as possible. I’m also enthusiastic about finding connections where I haven’t seen them before.
I’m enthusiastically pursuing being more intentional with my wife and kids. I’m eagerly planning simple ways to spend time with each of them individually and all together as a family.
One of the advantages of being in a non-fiction bookclub is that you come across books that you would never otherwise see. Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't Understand was great fun and sparked some eye-opening conversations, declarations, admissions on the evening. I would never have read this without it being a bookclub choice.
Example from the book (which has stayed with me): A couple are driving in a car. The woman passenger asks 'do you want to stop for a break?' The man replies (truthfully) 'no, I'm fine'. She was showing an interest in him which wasn't reciprocated. Perhaps she wanted to stop. He takes the question at face value as concerning him only, answers truthfully, and sees no problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Just_Don%27t_Understand
Drs John and Julie Gottman call these bids for emotional connection -- the fundamental unit of a couple’s emotional connection in fact. Interesting stuff at the Gottman Institute!
https://www.gottman.com/blog/want-to-improve-your-relationship-start-paying-more-attention-to-bids/
The thing that struck me, and to which I am now sensitised, is the asymmetry.
She was engaging and looking for connection, being considerate and desiring reciprocal consideration.
He read it as a factual question, and answered it as such.
Neither is 'right', and neither approach is the 'best' or 'right' one, as both a correct. What IS valuable here is the be aware, and understanding of the other's way of thinking.
Empathy is the only thing that has a shot at saving this world; not to go total John Lennon, but imagine if every interaction could be based in that desire to understand where the other person is coming from 🤔
I've been interested in Carl Gustav Jung & I want to look deeper into his ideas. Maybe a book or AT LEAST an article. Maybe look further into Gaugin or Van Gogh.
Daniel - I highly recommend the podcast 'This Jungian Life' as a starting point 😀
THANK YOU. & that title is VERY easy for even with someone who has lifelong CRS like myself to remember !✋
They will have you analysing your dreams in no time 😄
Dr. Vicki, I have had some dreams that STANLEY KUBRICK or M NIGHT SHYAMALAN would / would've loved.
😂
This year I'm getting married - at age 50, having never been married before and always been a little ambivalent about the institution of marriage. I'm biting the bullet, exploring what commitment means to me and even finding the joy in the stressful business of wedding planning 😜
When I was ambivalently preparing for marriage at 47, I found this book interesting: Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Yes I have read that, and was contemplating re-reading it 😊
So cool! Congratulations!
I'm choosing to enthusiastically not freak out about things I can't control. My accounting software lost several months of transactions. I'm dealing with it by reading this email and thread of lovely comments. When I revisit my taxes later, maybe those transactions will be there, along with the positive vibes from this post. HOORAY TAXES.
Sending some good vibes your way!
Beth, chances are there's a backup somewhere. If not, you should get in the habit of making them, so you can say enthusiastically "whatever happens, I'm covered."
Oh that happened to me recently Beth, but a tech friend was able to guide me to the place in cyberspace where all the earlier versions of a document are stored (even ones you didn't save). Sadly I can't recall how I got there, but do you have a tech friend who might know these gems too?
I hate to say it, but work.
I'm interviewing for promotions, at company locations in different states. This is it for me: If I get any of the openings, I finally have the money and reason to move out of my parents' house and my hometown. I also finally make the jump from line worker to management, after more than a decade in my position. This is my new Big Scary Thing, and I'm ready to do it in 2024
Work is a great thing to be enthusiastic about. So few are. This is a lot of change in your life at once and you'll grow from it like nobody's business.
I love it. Happy new year, everyone!
I'm very excited for my own first year of writing here on Substack. I've met and gotten to know some amazing folks like Mike over the last year, and I go into this year understanding how the platform works AND how to write SO MUCH better than last year. I'm excited for my truly first full year here.
I'm going to throw myself into this.
Yay! I think we are doing the exact same thing!
Great minds! You got this, June.
You too!
I'm enthusiastic about everyone's fiction here on Substack, and the writing of my own science fiction anthology, the building of a world all my own. I'm excited to share that with others, finish it, publish it and have it be carried by my hometown library. And of course, I'm enthusiastic about Mike Sowden's Everything Is Amazing. Because how can you not be when there are so many amazing things out there for Mike to do all the work and discover and report on for those of us who are lazy!
Yes! Cheers to Mike! 🍻
Hear, hear!
My dog had a year of poor health in 2023 but she seems to have turned a corner. I’m enthusiastic about long walks, trips to the sea and jumping into piles of leaves with her.
I want to come with you.
I am enthusiastically pursuing my creative side - classes and practice and exploring different styles and mediums of paint AND more writing...I am enthusiastically exploring the PNW by trail...and I am enthusiastically chasing after what brings joy (that's not really a new one for me). If it isn't a "hell yeah!" it's probably going to be a no this year.
I need to re - polish my writing & photography skills. They've lain fallow much too long.....
I'm # 1 post- that reason to be enthused!
Food and words! This last year I've started working in a kitchen again, which gives me time and space to work on my fundamentals - tidy up my cuts, tune up my weigh-by-feel. As for words, this last year was spent polishing up my vocabulary and descriptions, so this year I'm working on mechanics - syllable measure, cadence, rhyme. Time to get back into poetry.
Your reply made me think of the word “caesura” . Do you know it? It means:
(In Greek and Latin verse) A break between words within a metrical foot.
(In modern verse) A pause near the middle of a line.
I just learned it ( I’m trying to improve my vocabulary) and it relates nicely to your interest in both words and poetry. Cheers!
This is great! After a long period of being away from cooking (mostly for my family) I’m cooking for myself. I listen to episodes of The New Yorker fiction podcast as I do so. It slows me down and helps me with my focus. Bonus: two activities that I do just for myself. I make up my own recipes. I have my own style of mise en place (big cutting board instead of a lot of small bowls) and don’t worry about anyone criticizing my knife skills.
Caesura is a fantastic word to describe this process.
But there’s nothing that could top Stella’s tail wagging above the pile of leaves.❤️
New Yorker fiction podcast? Checking that out!
From Robin to......caesura.....Roblyn! Best of luck in your cooking endeavors. Great Idea listening to the New Yorker fiction podcast. I'll have to give that a try. Happy New Year.
I hadn't! And it shares more than a few letters with my last name, which suits. Thank you kindly for the knowledge!
I love this!!
Ooh, cooking sounds exciting!
Woolly stuff: wool gathering, fibre arts, visible mending, slow fashion, all that stuff - it’s time to use the good yarn!
Me too! I'm learning to spin so I can make a pair of socks from scratch using Soay wool gathered on St Kilda. I'm excited by craft and textiles....and poetry. I plan to expand my poetic horizons by engaging with new poets as I tend to revisit old favourites too much.
I get told often I'm TOO enthusiastic. I feel sorry for the people who "accuse" me of that. They must lead such grey lives.
That sounds so exciting! I sort of wish I could knit, but then again, it would take away crocheting time...can we have a few more hours a day just dedicated to hobbies please?
I just moved into a new place and I’m choosing to be enthusiastic about the forest in my backyard! I want to learn the habits of the wildlife that lives here. I want to learn more about the land and hopefully start my garden this year.
Happy New Year!
A timely post -- I’ve been thinking about this for a couple weeks. 2024 is a pretty loaded year, and there’s lots that I’m enthusiastic about related to that: the US elections, Olympics, family/kids/personal and career changes starting to peek above the horizon...
Personally, there are a number of things I’m throwing myself at, however futilely. I just started taking piano lessons (starting from basically zero) and love the feeling of trying to learn something very difficult for me. Dedicating myself to health and fitness goals. Starting a new writing project (that I’ll probably integrate into my Substack as a chapter-by-chapter sandbox). Taking a trip, just for me -- maybe the Faroe Islands? It just sounds wonderful to spend a week hiking around that incredible landscape and commune with the puffins (do you or anyone else know much about it? Hints?). I’m just crazy optimistic about this year, however unwarranted that is, and shaking my head that almost 3.5% of it is gone already. At least we get an extra day!
(I should cut/save this so a year from now I can have a good laugh about what an idiot I was...)
You just gave me another reason to attempt keeping a journal of some sort: to look back and laugh about what an idiot I've been!
Action!
I’m enthusiastic about becoming a first time mom. It’s been a challenge to not get bogged down by the cultural belief my generation has about raising kids in the current political, economic and social climate...
But for me, being able to conceive and birth then raise a child seems to be a negative these days. So I’m trying to consume positivity over negative or just plain apathy.
Ali, this is so cool. Being a mom is my favorite thing. Tomorow, I'm writing about shedding other voices so we can listen to the voice within. Your story is a beautiful example of that.
As you know, Mike, I am *always* enthusiastic about birds, but I’ll be taking it to new heights (depths?) this year, partly by writing extra weekly posts about them on my Substack, but also by enrolling on an excellent online course about bird biology, run by Cornell University. I’ve just started, and it’s ace, inspiring me to even greater levels of enthusiasm (if such a thing were possible). Oh, and I’m reading War and Peace as part of Simon Haisell’s excellent ‘chapter a day for a year’ readalong.
Lev, would you mind sharing a link for that Cornell course? Sounds fantastic, and if it’s held regularly I might enrol in the future :)
It’s this one. If you sign up for their mailing list they have it on sale (something like 15% off) fairly regularly. And you can do it at your own pace. You also need to get the Handbook of Bird Biology, which isn’t cheap – but it’s superb. https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/product/ornithology-comprehensive-bird-biology/
Thanks so much!
Gardening at sea level for the first time ever! 👩🏻🌾
I wasn’t really interested before we moved to the mountains (where everything is just much harder to grow with less air and much less water). I know the Texas summer will kick me in the ass but I’m hoping to enthusiastically grow some of the flowers, fruits and vegetables I’ve been dreaming of. 🧡
Well, I mean, I used to have some other plans but now all I can think about is leaf-jumping :)
Making friends! I’m moving to a new country soon and, being an introvert, I’m not naturally great at putting myself out there. But I want to make an effort right out of the gate because I know it will pay dividends! So I’m going to try to table my fears, put on my extrovert hat for a bit, and enthusiastically meet as many people as possible.
I smiled at the word 'hat'. I've aways wanted to be the kind of person that would wear a panama with panache. Abroad, no-one knows me so I can redefine myself, play the character. New hat, new me.
Good luck!!
😊 thanks, Mike!
I'm enthusiastically pursuing to write more and be more intentional with my goals, specially about finishing writing my first book, that I hope will be out by the end of the year
I have long been enthusiastic about walks, books, bicycles, and typewriters and lately I've been upping my enthusiasm for carving rubber stamps to illustrate my stories.
Kent! What a blast from the past!
Hi Barb,
I didn't know you were on Substack. I'm supposedly retired, but I keep finding ways to stay busy.
On here as a reader, not as a writer. My writing is on my personal blog spaces at http://bikestylespokane.com/ and https://biketoworkbarb.blogspot.com/. Now living in Olympia and working at WSDOT.
Love that dog, Stella. Can I have me some of that, please? This year I'm enthusiastic about a lot of things, but taking it slowly. For now, I'm enthusiastic about living more intentionally with the seasons and lunar cycles. I'll take it from there. 🌙
I really started to be aware of full moons when I first discovered the Lunar Society, a club of industrialists, philosophers and intellectuals around 1800 in the Midlands of the UK who would meet on the night of the full moon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Society_of_Birmingham
This may explain the timing:
"Once a month, William Caslon gave a musical soiree on the night of the full moon, not from lycanthropic tendencies but as a courtesy to his guests, who, if they had drunk too much (Caslon brewed an excellent light beer in his household), could nevertheless have a reasonable light for their return journeys and avoid falling into the ditches."
The French Republican Calendar was an attempt to make people (well, those in cities, not directly exposed to nature) more aware of the season changes by associating each day of the year with the plants, fruits, vegetables that were in season at the point. 23 January was the day of the snow-drop etc. It lasted from 1793ish to 1805, so more-or-less the same time as the Lunar Society of Birmingham. Coincidence? or a desire for order and understanding that comes out of the Enlightenment? (my money is on the second).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar
I'm choosing to be enthusiastic about facing some fears this year and making small, steady changes too!
I thought of a line 'new year, same me, doing new things.' would you say that fits?
I love this. I’m trying to be enthusiastic about REAL rest. Which seems like an oxymoron, but a) I know I do my best most creative work when I’m rested, but sleep is always the first thing I sacrifice when I’m busy; and b) I used to think that not working = resting but I’ve found the last couple years that that’s not the case. Only a few things (like 7+ hours of sleep) are actually restful, the rest is just not working. I’m trying to enthusiastically pursue the things that feel genuinely restful. 😊😴
Possibly not dying: https://jakeseliger.com/2023/12/07/tentative-fluttering-optimism-the-surprising-hot-r-d-ferment-in-head-and-neck-cancer-treatment/
I am choosing to be enthusiastic about nature journalling and looking more closely at the world around me
I'm so excited about the new family members I will rescue this year! The loss of any of my animals is crushing; mourning, however, is no honor to the joy they brought to my world. I celebrate the lives lived and will foster and rescue yet again to keep that joy rippling ever outward.
I am enthusiastically embracing new horizons in fermented foods! Natto and koji among others to see if they counteract the health effects of my genetic disposition to heart disease, my general proclivity for sloth and my other enthusiasms (is that a word?) of those other ferments like beer + wine. Luckily there are good intro classes online and the recipes are simple + tasty. Taking back old knowledge for future living. Bubbling with delight!
I'm learning the value of sharing what matters to me with others, whether they can, themselves, be supportive of the endeavor or not.
From 2017 through 2022, I spent literally 10% of my total lifespan rescuing my mother from the financial and business chaos of my father's passing (plus some assorted other issues.) In 2021, I shared with some friends that I really wanted my own weaving studio space in our home - trying to reclaim some of *my* life again. The studio came true later in 2022, as well as a related opportunity. 2023 I kind of found myself creating a weaving business, writing patterns, teaching, and having things published.
So 2024 - the enthusiasm is for building something creative in weaving for myself that also is helpful and supportive of others.
As growing another pair of legs and butterfly wings like your YouTube dog are probably off the cards I will continue to enthuse about the things I have spent a lifetime "nerding" over ... wildlife in general, birds in particular and gardening.
Richard, we share in common our enthusiasm for wildlife, and more specifically, our enthusiasm for the Carolina wren. I just read your "Tuning In -- King of all Birds" piece and, save for wanting to make way for there to be both kings and queens, I'm all in! 😊
https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/p/rush-rusher
I'm enjoying being on here more and more, and this year I'm going to add voice-over to my posts. I added one for the first time this week https://junegirvin.substack.com/p/me-and-my-voice and I've had so much positive feedback. My writing style is conversational and I hope that by including voice it will feel more intimate. I'm really enthusiastic about engaging with more people.
I’m very enthusiastic about, and happy for, the deconstruction of so many dams across the US, especially those on the Klamath and Eel rivers in Northern California. I’m also now hopeful the Snake River will become a free-flowing river too.
Enthusiastically looking at different ways to spur on my artistic side, from taking a printmaking class to going to art museums to trying to capture the art in nature through photography. And maybe writing about all of it.
Happy 2024! I'm enthusiastic about focusing on myself and what I can do rather than the things I can't. What do I mean by this? after years of self-comparing myself to others who are better off, I have finally accepted my simple living and would like to focus on my education as well as my writing:)
From Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (1889):
George said: “You know we are on a wrong track altogether. We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without.”
George comes out really quite sensible at times. You’d be surprised. I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life, generally. How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.
How they pile the poor little craft mast-high with fine clothes and big houses; with useless servants, and a host of swell friends that do not care twopence for them, and that they do not care three ha’pence for; with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with—oh, heaviest, maddest lumber of all!—the dread of what will my neighbour think, with luxuries that only cloy, with pleasures that bore, with empty show that, like the criminal’s iron crown of yore, makes to bleed and swoon the aching head that wears it!
Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
I'm with Stella. How I used to love jumping in the leaves when I was a kid. Now that I'm a senior citizen I'm more sedate, but not with enthusiasm. I mean, really, how could anyone be enthusiastic about that?
Here's what I am choosing to be enthusiastic about:
- exploring lots of hidden places in the nearby woods. There HAVE to be elves in there somewhere.
- reading lots of books about lots of topics
- drawing just for fun
- learning fascinating things, some of which I'll be able to cross off my "Gotta Know" list and others which will (sigh) add more to it.
- the joy in spending time with sympatico friends
- getting to do some or all of these every day for the rest of my life, and maybe even after.
I'm generally pretty enthusiastic about anything new and often worry that I'm just annoying the people around me. So thank you for reminding me that enthusiasm is a GOOD thing.
This year I'm taking a drawing class so am currently very enthusiastic about line weights and the smudgy glory of charcoal.
Enthusiasm isn't something I'm short of, optimism either - I'm more Pollyanna than Hayley Mills.
“There is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.” E.H.Porter
Apparently, it's a good trait to have…
For me, it's been a source of confusion, arguments and misunderstandings. While I do value it - I also despise the heavy sighs, the rolled eyes and being told that my thinking is unrealistic.
I think we all have something we can be glad about, that this can manifest into enthusiasm - an event to look forward to, a chat with a friend or loved one, knowing that we are appreciated unconditionally despite faults and flaws.
We must learn to be kinder to ourselves, to give ourselves a break from time to time… to treat ourselves with the same compassion and understanding that we show to others.
Charity may begin at home, but so does love.
I'm going to be enthusiastic about getting out into the world more. Working from home, it's so easy to stay indoors and I often have the intention of getting out and then don't bother. This year is the year to get out into the wild more, also out beyond my boundaries to meet more people across the country .
I was gonna say 'making jewelry', because I've been having A LOT OF FUN doing that, but having watched Stella in all her joy, I believe that I am going to be enthusiastic about Woods Day, which is when I take my leashcats out to somewhere far enough into the woods that nobody's gonna get all weird about leashcats, & spend my time wandering around with my boys, and ALSO making jewelry.
Ballet, and dance in general. Taking dance class feels like art and meditation and making sculpture/poetry out of my body. My body is on a different path from the body next to mine so there's no point in comparison or how "good" I am, and there's also a sort of mathematical rightness there to strive for. It's both freedom and limitation. Art and constraint. A pirouette can always get cleaner, tighter, turn into a double- but also it really doesn't matter at all and the fact that I showed up is still enough. Ballet has completely transformed my life over the last couple of years. I take dance class about 4 times a week and every class there's something new to be found in my own body and in the story I'm making out of it.
If you've been thinking of taking a beginner adult dance class--- do it!!
I'm going to be spending a lot of time this year looking for funding sources for theatre projects. In the past I've found this to be really stressful (I mean *everyone* hates grant writing...am I right? Or am I?) So I've been thinking about the power of bringing my enthusiasm for the projects to the table. And exploring how I can get away from being really hung up about it all, and instead pitch from a place of enthusiasm. Oddly enough (not really) my most successful projects have been funded by me randomly saying to people - would you like to be involved with this? And them saying - YES PLEASE!
Queer community and being brave. I've spent too much time keeping quiet and too myself because of anxiety or other things. Now, because of Our Flag Means Death of all things (a tv show, for those who haven't seen), I have a space where I can be loud about the things I love and it feels amazing. We got the heartbreaking news that it was cancelled this week BUT we've been so united this week in our fan renewal campaign that it's been incredibly uplifting and energizing! (any other fans who see this: join us!)
Thank you for this post, btw, reading everyone's reasons for enthusiasm is lovely <3
I’m enthusiastic about not living in fear of, whatever, loss of the electrical grid (I live in Texas and suffer from deep freeze 2021 PTSD) basically anything I have no control over. I’m enthusiastically kicking fear to the curb.
I feel you! Here in Montana we woke up to minus 31 this morning. It gets very cold here but holy buckets that was something. Then our newish fancy furnace decided to stop working-WTF? Try getting an HVAC company out on any Saturday in winter here, but minus 31? Fortunately my partner grabbed the install book and discovered the exhaust on the roof had frozen shut. Stay warm my friend, everything is temporary!
Ok -31 ?!!! That’s nuts. Glad the hubs sorted it out.
I will be fine as long as I don’t lose power.
I was plotting which houses I'm selling that are empty that we could squat in today. Crisis averted.
Ha! Nice to options.
I am super enthusiastic about being a certified medical assistant. I’m reading through the exam book and learning how fascinating the human body is!
Baseball, writing, and cold water swimming
I’m enthusiastic about the community I’m going to build despite moving to a new place and starting from scratch. Saying this in January feels like I’m taking hold of the future instead of it taking hold of me. Excited for the possibilities. It’s hard being community in your 30s especially being a new dad. But that’s a story I’m willing to let go of.
Stella is awesome!
I have high hopes I will finalize some older projects this year. So I guess I am enthusiastic about conclusion in 2024!
I’m enthusiastic about learning to cook and truly eat as healthy as possible. I’m also enthusiastic about finding connections where I haven’t seen them before.
WOW. Stella's leaf jumps. We don't deserve dogs -- what a life!