The definition of interesting

My father always told me growing up that interesting people have interests. I rarely hear something that resonates with me, first-hand, as this simple phrase did. People that interest me are full of life, and they embody the definition of interesting. What other reason would people take the time to create, or even watch, documentaries about a very obscure subject, like a dying form of Japanese pottery, or a woman that collects only hard-covered books from the 1840s? They consume these kinds of stories because they present people who are experts in their field, whatever it may be, and at the same time, are experts at showing interest.

One of the most beautiful things about life is that there is so much to learn, and, no matter what topic one chooses, there are subtopics beyond subtopics. Now that I am finished with formal school for now and not “forced” to learn, I have found a curiosity (had to find a synonym for interest) in learning more about the world. I took up learning the French language in order to better communicate with some friends I met during college. I’ll admit, the beginning was very difficult, but with consistency for over a year, I am able to speak and hold basic conversations with some confidence. I’m consuming french movies, trying to bake french food, and joining online groups with other solo learners. My friend and developer at Adapt, Yunus Ibrahim, speaks French natively and was kind enough to listen to me struggle with basic sentences when we first met. In total, he speaks five languages, but that’s probably a whole blog post in itself.

People that devote their work to something specific is how quality is achieved, progress is made, and the world is changed for the better. I can see this kind of energy in my team members at Adapt when they get excited about solving small, but crucial problems. I’ve learned a lot about my colleagues and love how they bring strengths from their interests into their work, or just create meaningful conversations that help us to better connect with each other. 

What project, no matter how small, have you been holding off on? I write this all to say, don’t ever think that an interest is too small to investigate, as you never know what you will learn or the people you will meet. Often we underestimate what we are capable of achieving, so we worry about getting started. So as long as Yunus speaks five languages, I can continue struggling towards speaking a second one.