Enthusiasm

In class the other day, Dr. Sexson stated that enthusiastic meant one was "possessed by the gods." I consider myself an agnostic, and when I compared his statement with my own idea of "enthusiasm" I realized that regardless of beliefs, the word enthusiasm relates directly to the notion of human spirit. When I am enthusiastic about something, it is not a form of excitement, or pleasure, nor is it a feeling which resulted from any material entity whatsoever. When I am truly enthusiastic, the closest description of how I feel is that I have a perfect serenity which I sense throughout my whole body. However, this serenity often takes the form of the overwhelming desire to act on the "gut feeling" which is the source of my enthusiasm. This feeling has a pattern, albeit difficult to detect, but a pattern nonetheless. I have discovered that when I am at the closest proximity to actual reality rather than projecting conceptions of the past, my enthusiasm level is at it's highest. Examples, as they exist in my consciosness, strangely include my favorite activities. Skiing is easily first on the list. Nothing brings me closer to reality than pointing my feet down a hill with the understanding that every movement I make determines whether or not I will still exist five minutes later. Coincidentally, music is my next source of enthusiasm. Hmm, it seems like Dr. Sexson's statement about music being the heart and soul of who we are has some sort of connection with enthusiasm. My list of enthusiasm could go on for pages, but what about other peoples' ideas of this underlying feeling?
In his novel "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence," Robert Pirsig calls it quality, the underlying, unnoticed entity which creates our ideas of waking life. According to Antigone, enthusiasm is rooted in her inherent feelings which are created by the gods. She follows her instinct with utter enthusiasm as she completes the burial of her brother, because even in the face of death, she listens to the dictations of her spirit.

"Be Brave. You are alive. Already my soul is dead. It has gone to help those who died before me."

"It is the same for me, exactly. Something divine lays me to sleep."

"Look what these wretched men are doing to me, for my pure reverence!"