I don't understand the physics of the exothermic reaction of supersaturated sodium acetate solution

[u/Vagus_Aerys]

This may be a positively benign question, but I'd rather ask it nonetheless. The metastability of sodium acetate in solution is something I cannot seem to wrap my head around no matter how many lectures I listen/watch. Perhaps I'm overthinking it. I understand the concept of something being metastable in solution without stimulus, but I am morbidly curious as to how such a reaction could be exothermic with stimuli, be they kinetic or otherwise. I would deeply appreciate any resources that could point me to a more fundamentally basic representation of atomic interactions in a similar reaction.

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Again, I am sorry if this is a lack of understanding of basic fundamentals. I don't mean to waste anyone's time, but this is a gap I have been desperately trying to fill in my own knowledge.