Enthusiasm is brave. It means you’d rather be excited than safe from teasing.

Caring visibly gives people something to aim at, and detachment does not, which is why so many rooms settle into mild irony. Being openly excited about something is a decision to be teasable in exchange for actually enjoying it. The people who mock it are usually protecting the same thing in themselves.

Let yourself be obviously keen about one thing this week without hedging it. Talk about it to someone who will not match your energy. The slight exposure is the price of not spending your life at arm’s length.