Anne Truitt Zelenka

Les Orchard confesses he’s a serial enthusiast, flitting from nanoproject to nanoproject. He enjoys the process more than the results. How very mindful. He says:

So what’s my point in all of this? Mostly just writing to think this notion through. I’m sure this isn’t a terribly original self-discovery, but it’s one that I wanted to admit and elaborate so that I can at least explain myself to myself and work with it. And, having said all that, I thought that there just might be some others freewheeling around out there with whom the phrase “serial enthusiast” might hold some meaning, too.

It holds meaning for me. I, too, am a serial enthusiast. There, I said it, perhaps postponing forever the day in which I return to a nine-to-five job.

Serial enthusiasts, also known as foxes, aren’t fully appreciated in our culture. We like hedgehogs, a.k.a. experts, better; in fact, we want to be them. No one has ever written a blog post titled “How to Be a Dilettante” (I checked). And yet, what would the world do without us? Some of the most interesting thinkers today–Malcom Gladwell, Steven Levitt, and Virginia Postrel, for example–are more fox than hedgehog. They draw on broad knowledge of many subjects to get at underlying patterns of meaning.

But no one’s all fox (dilettante/serial enthusiast/renaissance man or woman) or all hedgehog (expert/specialist/authority). My current obsession with mindfulness reflects a monogamous relationship more than a passing flirtation, as I’ve studied Buddhism and experimented with meditation and other mindful practices for over twenty years. I have an abiding interest in technology, specifically web technology, that will likely last as long as my body is capable of browsing the web. On the personal side, my husband and I will reach the halfway point to our silver anniversary in nine months.

What’s the secret, to keeping enduring passion alive, even if you’re a serial enthusiast? Novelty. Making things new and noticing the new, even as almost everything stays or at least seems the same. Ellen Langer, my current favorite mindfulness expert, says this about novelty-seekers:

An individual who seeks novelty perceives each situation as an opportunity to learn something new. An individual who scores high in engagement is likely to notice more details about his or her specific relationship with the environment. A novelty producing person generates new information in order to learn more about the current situation. Flexible people welcome a changing environment rather than resist it.

Let me leave that as the only suggestion I’ll offer from one serial enthusiast to another as Les embarks on a great adventure requiring extensive powers of mindfulness (read: patience and nonjudgment and attention) to keep it fresh and good. Don’t follow that tired advice: “keep it real.” Keep it new, and see the everyday novelty as passing time brings more moments to enjoy. Congratulations and best wishes, Les.