Many things can be "aroused by something exciting", ranging from emotions to physical beings – it's so open-ended! This NYT Mini Crossword clue had me confused, and if you're here, I bet it did you too.

Let's get straight to the answer.

“HOPES” is the answer you are looking for. An exciting event can create “hopes” and give you optimism and a sense of anticipation for something to happen.

It's hard to capture "hope" as an image, so I apologize a little. We've all had hopes and dreams at some point in our lives.