February 21 - Reasons for Optimism

Culture warriors will order pizza and then go on a 10 minute livestream rant about the coming Civil War.

What are you optimistic about?

One of the stranger things I observe from people who purport to care about the mental health of the younger generations is an overall “doomer” outlook on life and society. If you truly cared about Gen Z’s mental health you would stop declaring this current reality a late stage capitalistic hellscape from which there is no escape and instead, give the kids hope and reason to be optimistic about their future.

Doom sells much in the same way that “if it bleeds it leads” but if you’re in the media, you owe it to these kids to put things in perspective, not lead them to believe it’s pointless to try. This kind of nihilism is an irresponsible projection of your own existential crisis—and I say this only because I’ve been there—it’s called “being in your 20s.” If you’re still doing this after 30, grow up.

Civilizations have come and gone. Some quickly, some slowly. Some civilizations were stopped in their tracks—like Pompeii. Others slowly deteriorated. Historical perspective tends to always leave me feeling grateful for all that we have in this moment, which is a heck of a lot more than our ancestors.

People will order food delivered to their house and then tweet about the hell they live in without any hint of irony or sense of self-awareness that they’re some of the luckiest humans who ever walked the planet. Culture warriors will order pizza and then go on a 10 minute livestream rant about the coming Civil War.

These are not serious people. Luckily, absurdity keeps me optimistic.

So does exercise. If I’m doom scrolling or spiraling, getting my heart rate up will immediately shift my outlook, perspective and mood. Sex. Good food. Running hot water and electricity.

My daughter and all the kiddos give me hope for the future. They are the future and children have been born throughout history with so much less. A child’s outlook on the world is curious, open, joyful. My daughter wakes up smiling. Of course her ignorance is bliss but it shows me that the factory settings for many of us consist of a high happiness set point.

Comedy makes me feel optimistic. I was recently in a comedy club in Austin, listening to hundreds of people laughing at inappropriate jokes. Comedy makes me believe we are capable of getting through just about anything—especially if we can laugh at it and ourselves.

I excel at constructing worst case scenarios. As a business owner, I lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, imagining what happens when it all goes sideways and I’m out on the streets. But I’m wary of self-fulfilling prophecies. Now I try to imagine what success looks and feels like. It’s a more challenging exercise for me but I like it. Envisioning favorable outcomes makes me aware of how hard it is to maintain a positive outlook on life and how easy it is to complain and focus on the negative.

In spite of it all, we owe it to the younger generations to be straight with them—but also, to give them a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It can be very simple. As one of my readers said today in response to this chat on my Substack, “that the sun will rise tomorrow.”

I loved that answer. It’s so simple and yet so elegant. Life goes on. Make of it what you will.