On my monitor at work is a quote from Diderot: “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” In Exuberance: The Passion for Life, Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychology and MacArthur fellow, explores and even celebrates the our capacity for play, passion and enthusiasm.
And what a ride it is! She looks at playful and celebratory behaviors in other animals, examining the possible evolutionary benefits of risk-taking and the chemical and hormonal rewards for discovery and learning. Her exuberant subjects include Snoopy, Tigger, Mr. Toad, Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Feynman, Louis Armstrong, Jane Goodall and many others from history, fiction, and personal interviews. She even warns us of the potential dangers, the rocks and shoals of the bounding waves:
Champagne enchants, but it also intoxicates more quickly than stiller wines: heed glides into heedlessness as effortlessly as the silk chemise drops to the floor.
I learned much about my own passions and obsessions (and feel a bit less guilty about them), and after reading Exuberance I feel like I understand some of those unique, absorbed, adventurous individuals who have crossed my path (you know who you are!).
This is no dry science text. Jamison invites us to sip champagne, shoot off fireworks, and celebrate with her in the passionate experience of humanity.
