April 24th, 2025

A Love Letter to People Who Believe in People

Tina Roth Eisenberg emphasizes the transformative power of enthusiasm, highlighting key influences in her life, the founding of CreativeMornings, and the importance of supportive communities for fostering creativity and kindness.

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EnthusiasmEncouragementInspiration
A Love Letter to People Who Believe in People

Tina Roth Eisenberg, the creator of the design blog swissmiss, reflects on the transformative power of enthusiasm in her life and the lives of others. She recalls her childhood experience of creating a fan club, emphasizing that being a fan is about fostering excitement and belief in others. Throughout her journey, she highlights key individuals who inspired her, including her eccentric Aunt Hugi, who encouraged her to live boldly, and her first boss, Matthew Waldman, who instilled in her the importance of a supportive work environment. Eisenberg also credits her daughter Ella for motivating her to start her own design studio and Jim Coudal for empowering her to pursue her ideas. She discusses the founding of CreativeMornings, a community initiative that connects creative individuals, and acknowledges the support of Ben Chestnut and Ruth Ann Harnisch in expanding its reach. Eisenberg concludes with a call to action, urging readers to believe in others and create supportive communities, as this collective enthusiasm can lead to significant cultural shifts towards kindness and generosity.

- Enthusiasm is a powerful force that can transform lives and inspire action.

- Key figures in Eisenberg's life played crucial roles in her personal and professional development.

- CreativeMornings fosters community and connection among creative individuals.

- Supportive environments are essential for nurturing creativity and innovation.

- Encouraging others can lead to a ripple effect of positivity and change.

AI: What people are saying
The comments reflect a strong appreciation for enthusiasm and its positive impact on creativity and community.
  • Many commenters express the importance of having supporters and fans who uplift and encourage them.
  • There is a contrast drawn between enthusiasm and criticism, with a preference for positivity over negativity.
  • Some individuals share personal experiences of how encouragement has transformed their professional and personal lives.
  • Concerns are raised about the darker sides of fandom, particularly in certain cultural contexts.
  • Overall, the comments celebrate the power of belief in others and the joy that comes from shared enthusiasm.
Link Icon 21 comments
By @HanClinto - about 19 hours
This is so needed. This was a very encouraging article.

"Being a fan is all about bringing the enthusiasm. It’s being a champion of possibility. It’s believing in someone. And it’s contagious. When you’re around someone who is super excited about something, it washes over you. It feels good. You can’t help but want to bring the enthusiasm, too."

Stands in contrast to the Hemingway quote: "Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors."

It feels socially safe, easy, and destructive to be a critic.

I'd rather be a fan.

By @flanked-evergl - about 19 hours
What we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert—himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt—the Divine Reason. Huxley preached a humility content to learn from Nature. But the new sceptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. Thus we should be wrong if we had said hastily that there is no humility typical of our time. The truth is that there is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it is practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.

(quoted)

By @PaulHoule - about 18 hours
I think the best thing I get out of social media such as Mastodon and Bluesky is finding people who get enthusiastic about me -- when somebody discovers my profile and then I see they read everything I've posted in the last month and they favorite 20% of it, I know I have a fan.

I know those folks exist on HN but HNers are more reserved and I only find out about them when they stand up for me against the haters.

By @svelle - about 19 hours
I had a manager and mentor who was a fan of me. It felt amazing having someone who is actually rooting for you. Him cheering me on and giving me constructive feedback and building me up in a way no one did before that has fundamentally changed my professional and private personality, hopefully in a good way.
By @Havoc - about 14 hours
Also, people that don't have an adversarial bone in their body. They just want everyone to be happy and succeed.

A lot of people reckon that applies to them, but the real deal is pretty scarce in my experience.

Always find people like that inspiring.

By @patcon - about 19 hours
This woman founded Creative Mornings, which has been one of my most well-respected and beloved quasi-centralised organizations (I tend to have a bias for loving humane decentralized/horizontal orgs/movements, and Creative Mornings struck a delightful balance between order and chaos)
By @rfl890 - about 19 hours
Thought this was the Swiss Miss (hot chocolate powder) website for a second
By @bix6 - about 19 hours
“Having more people say, “We just want to make sure you can do your magic,” is what the world needs.“

Amen to that!

I’ve found early enthusiasm hard to come by. It really seems to pick up once others are onboard. But the initial 1-2 people make all the difference.

By @jdthedisciple - about 12 hours
Reminds me of the Pygmalion effect [0].

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_effect

By @felixarba - about 19 hours
This was wonderful. The choice to be a fan is within us all.
By @ChrisMarshallNY - about 18 hours
I've always been a fan of enthusiasm. I find many people react badly to it, though; especially in tech. We have a lot of curmudgeons.
By @VP2262 - about 6 hours
You can do a lot with a little enthusiasm, way to go Swiss Miss :)
By @bookofjoe - about 17 hours
Linked article above broken for me; this one works:

https://creativemornings.com/blog/a-love-letter-to-the-peopl...

By @bicepjai - about 17 hours
I love the take on fandom, this is how I would want it. While this article portrays fandom as a pure, innocent and positive force, my experience shows it can have a darker side. In places like South India, fandom often evolves: fandom becomes factions, factions become gangs, gangs become political groups, and political groups become dynasties or kingdoms. This cycle limits leadership diversity and negatively impact governance and society. IMHO fandom isn’t always innocent; it can wield significant social and political influence, for better or worse. Note: written with gpt4o
By @ForOldHack - about 3 hours
I am a fan.
By @badmonster - about 15 hours
What a beautiful tribute to the power of enthusiasm and belief in others
By @gavin_gee - about 16 hours
so wholesome. what a great day to have found this blog.
By @pbsladek - about 13 hours
Shared with my team. Lovely read.