Skip to main content

The Beauty of Rainbows

 Is optimism the same thing as having hope?

One of my staple traits is being an optimist--looking at situations with the glass half full. I'm the type of person where even the tiniest things will make me excited. Yet as we look at the temptation to look at what's only pleasant, will our standard for "pleasantness" be harder to meet? There's a question of whether always finding the good in something numbs the ability to reach new heights of joy.

Waking up to sunny weather always provides a pleasant surprise to my morning, even in the summer. Of course, by mid-July, I am accustomed to the typical clear and bright weather, but I will never fail to appreciate a beautiful day. Every time I remind myself of the beauty that I know I'll miss in the winter, I savor the crispness of the air. This takes me to being simultaneously faced with whether I can appreciate the weather because I'll one day lose it or because the sun always makes me happy. Is it a matter of conditions?

A more decisive look at having hope comes with setting expectations. The most pressing issue in my life at the moment is ~college~. My dreams of going to college years ago have been greatly subdued recently, and whether or not that was partly intentional or subconscious remains a mystery to me too. Yet as I press submit I have to constantly block out the temptation of imagining a possibility of being able to respond to my decision letter with excitement. I tell myself you aren't getting in! in an attempt to not get my hopes up. I sacrifice my happiness from hope now to save myself from disappointment later. 

If it takes stormy weather to appreciate a nice day, how can someone who always jumps in joy continuously do so? Maybe it's no deeper than a personality trait.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fiction of Eye Contact

This picture makes me so  uncomfortable.  While it's eye-opening to find reason behind the normalities of point of view in film, the eye-level shot appears far from normal in my eyes. Is it the purple suit? The hands crossed? Or the specific positioning of the viewer on a table that makes me so uneasy? It's probably a combination of my suspicions, but I've decided that to its core, it's the eye contact that creates my discomfort. Most of these types of shots never reach the extent of eye contact. Instead, the similarity in levels creates a feeling of similarity shared by the character and viewer. There is no power disparity, no difference in viewpoint. Look at Forrest Gump and this eye-level shot (note that he's not looking at you). But once eye contact comes into play, the connection is too strong. Of course, any good producer will aim to form a connection for an audience to a film. However, there's comfort in a screen lying between a film and its viewer. It...
Post a Comment
Read more

The War

Despite the countless pieces of legislation passed under Roosevelt, what got America out of the depression was World War II. After World War I, America was actually very Isolationist. So as Roosevelt approached the war, he gradually promoted an Interventionist mindset. I mean, if Germany's going to intervene with everyone, why can't the U.S.?  So Roosevelt started getting involved with revising neutrality acts to allow for a cash-and-carry policy and later the Lend-Lease act so that the U.S. could provide arms and aid to the French and UK. And then, Pearl Harbor happened, so we all know what came next. Actual war. He was pretty much priming the U.S. for war so that when war actually happened, everyone wouldn't be in shock. Although FDR didn't live to see the end of the war he brought his country into, according to my AP Gov breakout rooms, he was deemed the most worthy of all the remaining Presidents to be carved into Mt. Rushmore. Both for the democratic party and demo...
Post a Comment
Read more

F*** It

After years of calculative thinking and cautiousness, in 2020, I started living a little more in accordance to the f*** it mantra. Quite obviously, senior year is the year of worry, and the pandemic has not been of help; but recently I've taken the mindset of not caring so much and not doting on what I can't control. (It could also be because of my avoidant personality type, but for now, I'll take it as a good thing.) It's easy to be positive when things go your way, and I've had the privilege of being able to be positive for my whole life. Amidst aspects of my life that suddenly went wrong this year, I have deviated slightly from my typical upbeat self at times; but more and more, I see how beneficial it is to think f*** it  (with consciousness, of course). As much as everyone suggests looking on the bright side of things, when you don't want to, it really sucks. And while I can't say I actively tried to look on the bright side everyone spoke of, I did seek...
Post a Comment
Read more