0503blog
Look on the Bright Side
Is there an optimist in the house and if so, does he or she make house calls and what is the going rate? I would think that those rare optimists would be in great demand and stand to make a lot of money especially these days.
I think I was an optimistic person until I turned around 13, that was the pivotal glass half-full, glass half-empty, moment and I recall getting up in the morning, smiling and looking forward to the day and then suddenly, I got up one day and said to myself, “Self, wipe that smile off your face, this is a tough world to be in.” And that was that, set the tone, not that I haven’t had good times, not that I don’t appreciate my family and all the people I’ve known but it still doesn’t put a dent in the pessimism that has been the overriding ingredient in my make up. I feel like that in order to survive I must keep my eyes wide open and how can you sugar coat, gloss over or even pretend to be an optimist when you understand that we are here one moment and living with the worms, the next. I think that even at an early age I looked around at the sadness and tragedy and couldn’t understand why it all had to be that way and so I have spent many years trying to understand and really not getting very far.The upside of being a pessimist is that it fuels me to try to make things better, which is the definition of an optimist and if you understand that please let me know. So I would consider myself optimistically pessimistic and I agree with the great linguist and radical Noam Chomsky who said, “Unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”
The textbook definition is that an optimist is “a person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of something” and “a person who believes that this world is the best of all possible worlds or that good must ultimately prevail over evil.” Some would say an optimist walks around wearing eternal blinders.
On the other hand, the pessimist is defined as “a person who tends to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen” and “a person who believes that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.” Sounds pretty much on the mark to me.
I know a few people who I think are optimists. These rare Pollyannas seem to actually have a bright view of the world, they smile easily, are quick to empathize, are curious about the world, hard-working, family-loving, enjoy blooming flowers and laughing babies and down pillows and warm blankets but deep down there must be something wrong, there has to be something wrong, isn’t there always something wrong. One day I will ask these optimists for the secret. Perhaps it’s all about singing, like in the Monte Python film, “The Life of Brian” which ends with a rousing group rendition of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” while all are hanging from crosses.
Eeyore pretty much reflected my perspective in “Winnie the Pooh” when the beloved though perpetually gloomy donkey said, “It’s snowing still. So it is. And freezing. Is it? Yes, however, we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”
And I have a soul mate in Charlie Brown, who had this conversation with his best friend, Linus.
“Life is difficult, isn’t it, Charlie Brown?” said Linus.
“Yes, it is, but I’ve developed a new philosophy. I only dread one day at a time,” said Charlie brown.
I know I am not alone in my gloomy Gus perspective on life. The closest that one of my favorites, writer philosopher Charles Bukowski, got to optimism was when he said, “There’s a light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness.”
Another Bukowksi gem:
“I drive around the streets
an inch away from weeping,
ashamed of my sentimentality and
possible love.”
So being a pessimist is a good thing because it keeps me searching for the beauty in life, always somehow hopeful even if it is a rare quality.
What does it mean to be optimistic because I don’t have a clue? Is there an optimism gene or is it purely an environmental thing. Webmd.com reported that researchers have identified a possible genetic basis for optimism and self-esteem and it’s connected with the “love” or “cuddle” hormone, oxytocin, which also is released by breastfeeding women and by men and women during orgasm. So sex is once again a possible solution.
Where can I go to find optimistic people and is it a closed club? I wrote down a few of the more dyspeptic aspects of life, and there are many, including pandemics, variants, racism, Trump, Republicans, climate change, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, cancer, unemployment, furloughs, taxes, violence, mass shootings, gun control failures, unarmed black men shot by cops, anti-vaxers, North Korea, getting old, white privilege. I feel better now.
And then I thought about reasons for optimism, and found only a few as the list was rather brief, including dogs, babies, baseball, children, wives and traveling to Europe, not necessarily in that order. And don’t forget sushi.
Apparently more people are thinking optimistic thoughts at least regarding the direction of the country under Joe Biden. ABC News reported on its latest poll that nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) are optimistic about the direction of the country. The last time the country came close to that level of optimism about the coming year was in December 2006, when 61 percent said they were optimistic about where the country was headed. By the way, 2006 was the year that Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress during the midterm elections; the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 12,000 for the first time in its 110-year history; and Del Monte announced that it would end pineapple production in Hawaii because it was no longer economically feasible to grow pineapple in the state. That’s enough to make a person smile.
Most Republicans remain more like Oscar the Grouch or the Grinch as the same ABC poll showed that 60 percent of Republicans most likely to say they are pessimistic.
Studies also have shown that optimism generally increases throughout younger adulthood, flattens out between about 55 and 70, and then decreases again after that, which is where I am but hopefully, the curve starts upwards again after 100.