…On Being Enthusiastic, Passionate and Exciting Curiosity!
Earlier this year, when this Exciting Curiosity project had just begun, one of the first things I saw people talking about via Twitter was the book ’Teach Like A Pirate’ by Dave Burgess (@burgessdave). There was a lot of excitement around the book, and with a title like that who wouldn’t be curious about the content! So with a copy ordered for a pirate-loving friend, and a copy for me, I embarked on the adventure.
There is a story in Part 1 that really stuck out for me. The author, his family and their dogs were out and about when they came across a man who was also walking his dogs and they said hello. The man then spotted a hawk on the top of a nearby tree and told Dave all about the hawk, ‘the type of hawk it was, its hunting behaviour, and how its feathers were specially designed for the type of flight manoeuvres it needed.” (Teach Like A Pirate, p11) The discussion around the hawk and ecosystem of the surrounding area went on for around 30 minutes.
But why would a story like that stick out? Well it didn’t finish there. The author tells us that before meeting the man he couldn’t have cared less about hawks, was not an outdoorsman and would rather be in a hotel room than in a cabin. The reason that the hawk man could hold the author’s attention for 30 minutes (and ensured that the kids talked about it all the way home) on a subject that the author wasn’t interested in to begin with was that he was “one hundred percent passionate about his subject.”
This is what got me. It got me and made me think about all the people I’ve met and heard who are so completely and utterly enthusiastic and passionate about their subject and how each one of them has changed me. These are the people you could listen to all day. You feed off them. Just by manner of their being they challenge you to think about things and they help you grow. They excite your curiosity. They make you feel better about life. They make you feel better about yourself. They make you believe that you can do it and they make you want to do it. They are Baby Bio for the mind. How great for our mental wellbeing to spend time in the company of people like this.
In life, be passionate, be enthusiastic. Be outrageously passionate and enthusiastic! Your energy will inspire, will set minds thinking, will encourage others to be enthusiastic about their own interests and more than anything your energy will rub off on them. Keep your enthusiasm going, even in the face of adversity – it will greatly enhance the wellbeing of yourself and others! To Dave Burgess: thanks for writing this down.
“There is nothing more contagious on this planet than enthusiasm. The songs become incidental, what people receive is your joy.” Carlos Santana (Teach Like A Pirate, p65)