Enthusiasm’s Kin
In ancient times, the Greeks called a person enthousiasmos if they were akin to god possessing. In today’s lexicon, a person is thought of as passionate if they are enthusiastic. However, the root remains the realm of the gods, for to be enthusiastic is to be both of the moment and beyond the moment.
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Kin is not akin to clan in my book. Although your kinfolk may still reside in them thar hills, it simply sounds awkward albeit proper to say he’s kin, whereas I have occasionally referred to bigots as belonging to the Klan. It’s kissing cousins to sloppy speech, and bears an affinity to slang. I’ll grant you that its OK in my book to refer to a lambkin as such, but I draw a line at the Brit’s kinchin. I believe it hails from them thar lowlands.
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Enthusiasm or ego, but never both at once. One cannot exist beside the other. Ego is always in the past or the future, enthusiasm is always in the now.
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Akin is not as clear cut as afresh, however. People, real people, make a fresh start, not an afresh start. Someone who makes an afresh start undoubtedly gets acold alighting from the shower, and then, of course, gets agoing to brewing their cuppa.
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Closely related but not mutually exclusive, joy, happiness and love are also manifestations of being in the now. As with enthusiasm, all are contagious. Even if we start the day in a funk, we can sense the attraction in positive emotions. Its akin to a group of girls giggling together.
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I’m perfectly comfortable with running amuck, although I do have a responsibility to muck out the pond this weekend. And I may be atypical, but I typically put chores I dislike aside for days when I feel a bit amoral. At least then I can make amends.
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For a while I lost touch with the enthusiast. Nowadays, I’m downright unstoppable when I get hold of even a small bit of inspiration, both online and off. Its contagious, it blooms, it overtakes any complacency and I find myself riding that feeling with much joy. And I’m grateful.