Fixpert

Recently, I’ve mentioned the book The Alchemist on some other Fixpert posts.

To give you a sense of the book, here’s an excerpt from one reader’s review on Amazon:

“When you are in a funk, going through life and the mundane daily routine and responsibilities, perhaps content, but not exactly fulfilled–this book is a blessing, and should be read. The concept of the universe working in harmony with people and their quests in life, and the signs in which the universe reminds and reveals itelf to establish a path for our individual quest is brilliant and well-orchestrated throughout the book as a parable…”
- Emerson (Buffalo, NY)

I think that’s a great snapshot of the book and how it seems to impact people when they read it. Yes it’s a story about a young shepherd who goes on an Excellent Adventure, but that whole story is a just a platform through which Coelho is able to share little bits of wisdom that can apply to anyone’s life.

The Language of Enthusiasm

One such message that really resonated with me was the discussion of “the universal language.” When you hear someone refer to “the universal language” you tend to assume that they are referring to love, as in Better Off Dead when John Cusack’s neighbor is convinced that her nerdly obese son is having a love affair with the French exchange student. Nope, Coelho is not talking about love, he’s talking about the language of enthusiasm:

“The language of enthusiasm — things accomplished with love and purpose.”
- from The Alchemist

The book explores how the universe and everything around you will respond positively to things that you pursue “with love and purpose,” and how the universe will “conspire” to support your goals. I think that’s a really neat idea — that when you’re pursuing something positive with deliberation, the world will work to help you accomplish your goals.

Beget that Shit!

Maybe the language of enthusiasm is just a more mystical way of thinking about the infectious nature of emotion. When you beam positivity out into the world, people tend to mirror that back to you — smile at strangers walking down the street and you’re likely to put a smile on their face, and it continues to spread from there. On the flip side, you’ve probably heard the expression “anger begets anger.” Scowl at someone walking down the sidewalk, and you’re likely to spread that anger to them, and/or get a very negative response back from them immediately.

And that got me thinking about Pootie Tang.

We Love You Pootie!

People are going to laugh at me, but I recommend that you watch this movie several times. The first time you watch it, you’re reluctant to believe that Pootie could be such a compelling protagonist. He’s a stringy lookin’ dude, bird chest on display, rockin’ a greasy moustache and relaxed’ braided ‘do in the back — not your typical hunky movie hero dude. But after watching it a couple times, you buy into the whole concept of Pootie as the hero.

How does Pootie — who doesn’t utter an intelligible word of English for the entire film — manage to charm even the reluctant viewer? He does so with the language of enthusiasm!

Pootie beams his positivity and confidence out into the world, and the world responds in kind.

I’ve got more to say on this subject, and I’ll be continuing on in future posts. I intend to discuss Mirror Neurons and how I think they play a role in this idea of the infectious nature of emotion. And I also want to spend some time talking about Care Bears — yeah, you heard me. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this…

Somewhat Unrelated Closing Thoughts: Biggie Shorty

Biggy Shorty and Pootie made a great pair in the film because Biggie Shorty also understands the language of enthusiasm. Biggie Shorty just does her thing — rocks her headphones, dances all by herself on the corner.

And by the way, Biggie Shorty from Pootie Tang totally inspired my Bike Pimptress Halloween costume last year:

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 8:48 am and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.