Smile-- We must have been posting at the same time because I didn't see your response until now. I had no clue about the derivation of the word "enthusiasm." How interesting...and validating. (I, too, am an all-around enthusiast.) Thank you for passing it along.

Your observation reminded me of something that happened when I was a high school English teacher. I always taught Greek & Latin roots. The Latin root of the word "meticulous" is "metus," which means fear. When I shared this with my students, one of them blurted out, "So what are YOU afraid of, Mrs. Boyle?" Everyone laughed, including me. They sure had my number! My classroom was probably the neatest in the school. It was beautiful--at least in my opinion--with jewel-toned maps, Shakespearean memorobilia, and even an arty-looking green lamp to soften the florescent lighting. But every stack of paper, every pile of books, every doo-dad (I kept a collection of 3-D puzzles & "toys" on my desk to calm fidgety ninth-graders during one-on-one conferences) was arranged just so.

Related to this, when I first started writing, I had trouble finding my voice. I kept censoring myself. I wanted every paragraph to be a work of art. Plus I was afraid of offending people. (Can you believe that now I'm giving workshops to help others find their voices?) Natalie Goldberg's book Wild Mind was a tremendous help in this regard. I did her writing exercises every morning for a while, and they slowly loosened the knots inside my head.