Vicious Optimism

There are times when social media can best be described as a vortex of negativity where the few burden the many with biases and limited perspectives/understanding of the reality of the world in which we live in. This is one of the reasons why I have had to step back from some platforms – that the “interference” I have already mentioned once… or twice.. or…[checks posts]… thrice… or whatever four and five times are…

The first use of the phrase “vicious optimism” in this blog occurred back in June 2019 in “Conversations with Walt”:

I jokingly refer to myself as a “vicious optimist” in that, because of all of the messed-up crap I have read about what we have done to ourselves as a species over the years, I note that we keep truckin’ along and managing to advance beyond what we once were into who we want to be.

This concept roots in a meme/quote from Henry Rollins:

My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.

While I loved some of his earlier work, I disagree with much of his more recent stances on contemporary socio-political causes and issues. It doesn’t mean that I must immediately “cancel” his contributions to my perspectives or influence in both writing styles and outlooks; on the contrary, I comfortably attend to and process that evolution of favor as I work on my own reactions and compilation of new information.

Some of this process is quite subtle, but other times, it is obnoxious and persistent.

This morning, I was considering the words of one nameless contact who was mulling over their motivational malaise in both creative processes and the emotional fatigue/reluctance in engagement. In retrospect, this is part of a larger network of “canaries in the coal mine” for those of us in the political and social middle – to gauge where folks like me are in how they are managing with the MSFatZ (monkey shit fight at the zoo, in case you haven’t been paying attention) that seems to be consuming every aspect of our lives.

This one person isn’t the only one – there are more who are finding it harder and harder to find the mental clarity to jot down their thoughts, let alone debate them with stubborn and entrenched vomitors of pundit talking points.

However, if they can entrench, so can I…

I am a vicious optimist. I understand where we might be headed based upon the imperfect indicators of the past, but I appreciate where we can go, despite all of the naysayers and casual pessimists’ efforts to squawk otherwise.

I do my best to maintain a certain positivity which is not based upon the unobtainable idealistic theories or fantasies, but in the fact that there must be something to look forward to – to strive for – to justify the action of individual and collective progress. And when that optimism is challenged, it has become more and more of an imperative to refocus whatever nonsense into a productive personal philosophy/position/line of effort.

One of my favorite lines from 2000’s “O Brother, Were Art Thou” is also one of the first bits of substantial dialogue in the film:

You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains. You will find a fortune, though it will not be the fortune you seek. But first… first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell. You shall see a… a cow… on the roof of a cotton house, ha. And, oh, so many startlements. I cannot tell you how long this road shall be, but fear not the ob-stacles in your path, for fate has vouchsafed your reward. Though the road may wind, yea, your hearts grow weary, still shall ye follow them, even unto your salvation.

I love this quote not only for the Lee Weaver’s delivery as the “Blind Seer,” but because of the reassurance it offers the trio: that the are in for a challenge which shall leave them better off than they were at the beginning – though, not in the way which initiated the journey.

So.

Fear not the OB-stacles in your path… you will come out a much better person than you started as… After all, when the going gets sideways, the best recourse is to get vicious in your determination to become better than you realized.