Earnestness Is Back in Fashion

Passion at the Renaissance Faire

The Escondido Renaissance Faire was pirate-themed this year—needless to say, many people dressed the part. What I especially love about events like these is the passion that fuels them: the people who go to a renaissance faire—whether to sell their wares, battle with their “guilds”, or just observe and eat turkey legs—are people who generally really love it.

I thought a lot about earnestness at the Renaissance Faire when I went on Sunday, mostly because most everyone was so sincere about what they were doing. Their characters were intricate and developed; the songs being chanted had definitely been practiced at monthly meetings; it was evident how much care went into the production of the festival. They loved what they were doing, and so did I, a mere plebeian.

Is earnestness still considered uncool? I think most of us still find ourselves cringing on occasion when we see people passionately and eagerly doing things that aren’t (broadly) considered “cool”. Why do we cringe when we see authenticity that doesn’t fit into a nice little socially acceptable box? Why is it awkward to see someone trying really hard, or really wanting something?

Maybe seeing someone really love something pokes the place in us that wants the same kind of thing. The cringe comes in to cover up the emptiness we feel in the place where longing for connection and passion live. I left the renaissance faire definitely wishing I had a place I could be unabashedly earnest without smothering it with judgment or explanation.

In high school, I remember scoffing at the clubs I thought were dorky, and at the girls who were obsessed with Justin Bieber or One Direction. All the while, I was an undeniable band kid who tried really hard to be aloof and uncaring, and I’m sure people thought what I was doing was cringe. In the years since graduating college, I’ve come to view passion and earnestness for what it is: indicative of someone who is either being who they are, or trying to find who they are. Both are worthy endeavors, and both are very cool.

I read Tara Isabella Burton’s book earlier this year called Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. The book’s thesis regards the newer ways people congregate around shared interests and values: Burton disagrees with the sentiment that the western world is becoming increasingly secular. When individuals don’t find community, purpose, or meaning in a church or religious group, they turn to find it in other ways. Like, by joining a medieval “guild”, or taking SoulCycle classes, or even participating in online gaming worlds. Some of the places others find community and purpose we may want to judge or cringe at. But the truth is, we are designed to connect and commune with others, and we each deserve to find places and people that feel like home.

The things you’re really into or strangely very good at are the clues life gives you to go in the direction of. The more you let yourself like what you like, the more likely you are to attract people who will accept and maybe even join you. Perhaps, if we continue going in the direction of what feels like yes, and fill our own cups, we increase our capacity to love and accept the people who go in different directions, and connect over different interests.

May we can practice setting the cringe aside, and go about the business of discovering and building communities of beautifully passionate people. Let us not quell our interests in the name of being perceived as weird.

May the earnest passion commence!

Maggie