Jack Baty

Director of Unspecified Services

Other People's Enthusiasm

I get caught up in other people's enthusiasm. It's often fair to describe my entire personality as an amalgam of the blog posts I read that morning.

When someone writes enthusiastically about something, I want to try that thing. It could be software, a camera, a process, or a habit. I tell myself that it's not FOMO, but rather curiosity and a desire to explore new things.

To some extent, this is healthy. Learning about and experiencing new things is fun and useful. To a point. Too much, and it becomes a distraction and counterproductive. I'd say I'm about two decades into the counterproductive-ness of it all.

I feel like I would have been better off had I picked a few things years ago and stuck with them.