Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse: May 21, 2023

Issue 56

Hello Poets, Writers, and Artists!

It’s an understatement to say that the last three years have been challenging for most of us. You might find yourself in May of 2023 noticing certain shifts in your attitude, behavior, and even within your personality. Some days you may find yourself thinking, “What happened to the me who existed before 2020?” Writer and podcaster Arthur Brooks recently penned an interesting article in which he states that recovering our enthusiasm could be a key to more fully engaging in life and feeling happier in general.

Enthusiasm is often defined as being friendly and sociable or, in more contemporary language, leaning into life. Famed philosopher, Henry James, described enthusiasm as “a zest for the common objects of life.” A 2018 study showed that the happiness scores of those who had a more “outgoing” personality were higher than those whose personalities sought “withdrawal.” As writers, many of us may tend toward introversion and withdrawal, but it’s importan…