Optimism isn’t a cure all. Being a stoic doesn’t solve everything. Life can sometimes tie your shoelaces together.
I’m going through it myself a bit right now, chopping at the vines with a broadsword. Back in June, I was diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer (on the cusp really - some argue my diagnosis is pre-cancerous) but to hear those words at all is pretty intimidating. The whole thing involved a prostrate biopsy (note to self: sedation next time) and now I’m rotating through an ‘Active Surveillance’ protocol. The first step of this protocol happened this week, where I had an MRI and this Tuesday I get a much clearer picture of where I really am. So I’m beginning to relate to everyone else out there who has heard the C word. It’s a real hairy thing.
Radical Optimism isn’t about pretending everything is going to be all right. It’s about believing change for the better can happen, and that we can be agents of that change. That’s a beautiful thought.
So as I go down my own path figuring out how to be a better participant in the Creative Economy, and writing/filming/building/sharing/being more, it’s good to have that fall back position: positive change is right here, waiting to be made.
Field in Montana, 2022