Hi Nia, what a wonderful column, and some simply awesome photos (your eye just keeps getting better and better!). I LOVE your definition of the deep ethics of optimism, I think it is perfect. In a similar vein I just bought Guy Tal's new book, Be Extraordinary. Guy is one of my favorite artists, philosophers, photographers and writers, and he has a wonderful expression that served I think as the genesis of his book - "It's all so meaningless, we might as well be extraordinary".
You're always so generous, Paul! And for the photos, it might be that I'm learning more about how to use my camera rather than getting any better at photography 😅 The iPhone did much of the work for me.
That book sounds gorgeous, and maybe a good gift for the artist-inclined in my family, of which there are many. But really, what a line, I love that! Going to be keeping that one.
Antonia- I really love the way you put this: “Humans evolved in community, in interdependence. We wouldn’t be the species we are if we hadn’t cared for one another for hundreds of thousands of years.” I’m not sure where along the evolutionary timeline humans decided that dependence is inferior and independence is superior. But I do feel that it’s doing more harm than good. Especially when it comes to the way (and where) we live.
I do not know either, but I feel like it's something that was built over a very, very long time. Millennia. Because it only benefits a very few people and in our current society tricks a great deal more into thinking they can benefit just as much. It's a question I ask a lot of people, in different forms, hoping for insight into how we got here.
It's interesting to think of how architecture and where we live over the years has reflected that shift in different cultures.
You’re so right on this, Antonia. It does only benefit a few people and it’s an illusion made to lull everyone else into a false sense of security. 🤷♀️
One of my other mentors, Alan Weisman, has a new book coming out next year that you might like, called Hope Dies Last. I know I'll be looking forward to reading it!
Mentioning that because the idea of revolutionary optimism sounds very much related to this entire conversation. That would be a revolution I could get behind, one of care. I think that gets right to the deep ethics of optimism, to not give up on it.
It was pretty amazing. Helped by the fact that all the mentors were generous, curious, seemed authentically interested in everyone's work and exploring the ideas together, and incredibly -- for people coming from the literary, music, and theater worlds -- free of ego. Pico is still a friend, and has never been anything but generous and kind. The more writers I know, the more I value those who manage to wrangle their ego into some kind of balance.
I love this piece, Antonia, probably because it centers around a phrase you don't understand but that you offer to us anyway, to make our own meanings of (or to make collective meaning, perhaps). I have phrases and images like this that have lived with me, sometimes for decades, before I get the epiphany you mention, and suddenly, their meaning is clear. Your deep ethics of optimism made me think about the phrase "deep time work," which keeps coming up for me lately. I know that I'm supposed to be (want to be) doing deep time work right now. What does that mean? I have some ideas, but I am also following what feels like a faint but still visible trail to see where those words lead.
Thank you, Emily! I'm sure that a part of me hopes someday someone will have an interpretation that makes it all fall into place with me -- that epiphany -- but it hasn't happened yet.
And oh goodness, yes. Deep time work. I am likely trying to follow that trail, too, with similar uncertainty. It's an excavation and discovery that might never end.
I read your "what does it mean? what does it mean?" in the voice of Jack Skellington. 'Tis the season, and all that.
I wondered, in this 837th rewatching of the film, at the allegories I'd missed in the previous 836 viewings. How Jack saw something and wanted it. How it thought it could just see it and recreate it based on surface observations. How he then claimed he do it even better on his first try. I'm sure this was all a lot more obvious a lot sooner to a lot of people, but it was definitely a "hey, wait..." moment for my brain this time.
And so I feel that with "the deep ethics of optimism", I am Jack who perhaps just went through the tree's door of a tree. Alice down the rabbit hole. And as much as I have my first thoughts from Brain 1 hollering in my mind about what I believe and think about it, I'm going to not. I'm going to look for the deep ethical optimism in the world and find ways to ask questions of those that are in it. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom.
I'm also going to wonder how much of this will make sense when this head cold clears and I come back to it...but until then, here we are.
"I'm going to look for the deep ethical optimism in the world and find ways to ask questions of those that are in it. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom." That is what I keep trying to do. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom and experience.
I have to admit I've never seen that movie but after what you wrote about Jack Skellington I might have to!
And I hope your cold is better. Fluids, rest, etc., etc. 💚
I will be thinking about the deep ethics of optimism all week. There’s something about an imperative in there, about strength and privilege and collaboration.
That echoes what Sherri said in her comment, too, about what optimism asks of us, and how there's a collective and collaborative imperative inherent in the very question. If you're both saying it, I know there's something deep there because your mind and hers are two that I look to for clear vision!
In supporting young Congolese refugee artists who have lived in refugee settlement camps for more than half their young lives, I've come up close and personal to the conundrum of optimism. How does one maintain any sense of optimism when due to lack of clean water, health care and food people around you are dying and there is now way out? I never have an answer for the big questions my sweet informally adopted brother of 22, the leader of this artist collective, asks... Why me? How do I continue? How is this life so hard and injust for some of us? Recently after one of these conversations, he and the artists decided to travel 2 hours to the local mountain where they played games, danced,.and sang. Just a few weeks later they visited new refugees from DRC and played games and painted hands and faces. The deep ethics of optimism also eludes me and I don't suggest that any optimism is what's at play when the artists trek to the mountain, regroup and paint at an open market, or bring joy through art to new refugee children. I think it's a deep ethic of "when you have nothing left to do, always love". Optimism is derived from the Latin "best". Maybe it's about being out best selves even in the absolute worst circumstances?
Oh, Emily, this was absolutely beautiful, especially this part, which is a lesson I think a LOT of people need, especially in a country where, still, so many do not understand how many freedoms and comforts we have: "I think it's a deep ethic of "when you have nothing left to do, always love"."
That's the lesson I walk with from my family who lived under Stalin, trying to be the best self possible under the worst possible circumstances.
“The deep ethics of optimism“. I love this phrase. Have I sent you my post from 2017, Accepting Hopelessness, before? I think maybe I was exploring the same idea, but didn’t have this potent phrase. https://blog.entire.life/accepting-hopelessness-a3abd225eae9
I think maybe there’s two basic paths: 1) giving up / nihilism / not trying to improve anything except your own situation, or 2) acting like there’s some possibility of the world getting better, no matter how improbable it seems. Action despite hopelessness. The latter is the deeper ethic. To choose optimism.
(Which, as it turns out, has become the unofficial motto of my hometown, in recent years. “Choose optimism.“ You know shit is bad if that’s your town motto 😅)
I hadn't read that before, but how beautiful, thank you. "Hopelessness being a beginning starts to come more clearly into focus" is perfect.
I think "action despite hopelessness" is, as you say, the deeper ethic. I think about this a lot as a lesson from my childhood -- that you can fight like hell even when you have no hope of anything changing.
Goodness, that motto does say a lot about a town! Almost in line with "could be worse."
Thank you for sharing this line and while I don't have answers, I find an intrinsic need to respond. Because the phrase is calling me. Rather loudly, in fact. "we are exploring the deep ethics of optimism"
1st thought: what does optimism ask/require of us? Presence and positive future-orientation. Optimism asks us to be some kind of believers, to have faith; not in a religious sense, just in a human existence kind of way.
2nd thought: ethics of optimism is actually another ask: what must we sacrifice or prioritize to commit to a positive future-orientation? How might we need to wrangle our egos in that process? Against which impulses would we need to guard ourselves to tap into a collective wealth/wisdom?
3rd thought: "We are exploring" - this is not an individual undertaking which makes the prospect of shared optimism both more appealing (belonging, community) and also more complicated . The deep ethics relate to the collective and the individual's relation to the collective. to explore emphasizes open-endedness; space to seek, discover, encounter what's possible by and for the group as well as for the individual within the group.
I'm thinking too about dance as a shared human practice. Whenever I enter a room of people willing to dance, to move according to a facilitator's suggestions, I experience this sense of shared optimism. In that room, in that context, for those two hours, we take care of each other. We support and encourage each other. There is both challenge and also a lot of joy. We create something we didn't know of before. Considering the ethics that makes such an encounter possible among friendly strangers in a public space - all of it hinges on people bringing a willingness to engage with others - to see and be seen. Perhaps the depth refers to a possibility that resides in each of us, that only needs the right conditions to bloom and flourish.
Although I may be rambling, I've enjoyed thinking out loud here. Also, thank you for mentioning Care at the Core. It was a lovely surprise while reading.
These thoughts are incredible. Truly. First off asking what optimism asks of us -- it flips the question and reminds me of the question in Richard Powers's The Overstory: What does green ask of us? And second, what must we sacrifice or prioritize, and what kind of internal work does that ask us to do? What within our own selves do we have to face in order to truly work toward a world we'd like to see?
"The deep ethics relate to the collective and the individual's relation to the collective." YES. What can the individual find for the group within themselves, and what can the group make space for or provide for the individual?
I was thinking a bit about your writing on dancing as I wrote this, as well as Care at the Core, especially since the whole exploration of optimism, or the invitation to explore, came up in the context of dancing, individually but in a group. "We create something we didn't know before" -- I love that. That is ART. "Considering the ethics that makes such an encounter possible among friendly strangers in a public space" -- whew, that is HUMANING. Living. Being alive, as fully alive and present as possible.
Hi Nia, what a wonderful column, and some simply awesome photos (your eye just keeps getting better and better!). I LOVE your definition of the deep ethics of optimism, I think it is perfect. In a similar vein I just bought Guy Tal's new book, Be Extraordinary. Guy is one of my favorite artists, philosophers, photographers and writers, and he has a wonderful expression that served I think as the genesis of his book - "It's all so meaningless, we might as well be extraordinary".
Take care.. Paul
You're always so generous, Paul! And for the photos, it might be that I'm learning more about how to use my camera rather than getting any better at photography 😅 The iPhone did much of the work for me.
That book sounds gorgeous, and maybe a good gift for the artist-inclined in my family, of which there are many. But really, what a line, I love that! Going to be keeping that one.
The iPhone does a great job with exposure, image processing, etc, but it was your eye and mood that truly created the art 😉 and power of the image.
🤗🙏
Antonia- I really love the way you put this: “Humans evolved in community, in interdependence. We wouldn’t be the species we are if we hadn’t cared for one another for hundreds of thousands of years.” I’m not sure where along the evolutionary timeline humans decided that dependence is inferior and independence is superior. But I do feel that it’s doing more harm than good. Especially when it comes to the way (and where) we live.
I do not know either, but I feel like it's something that was built over a very, very long time. Millennia. Because it only benefits a very few people and in our current society tricks a great deal more into thinking they can benefit just as much. It's a question I ask a lot of people, in different forms, hoping for insight into how we got here.
It's interesting to think of how architecture and where we live over the years has reflected that shift in different cultures.
This is something I’ve spent a long time unpicking, and as usual have found the most compelling answers in reading feminist care ethicists!
https://theuntethereddilemma.substack.com/p/mythic-truisms-and-the-marginalisation
You’re so right on this, Antonia. It does only benefit a few people and it’s an illusion made to lull everyone else into a false sense of security. 🤷♀️
I live in hope of the deep ethics of optimism. What a lovely exploration of what this might mean.
I’m reminded of a conversation with my daughter about revolutionary optimism - without it we would give up hope that things can change.
I never used to think I wanted a revolution but perhaps 🤔
Where does that sit in the deep ethics of optimism I wonder?
One of my other mentors, Alan Weisman, has a new book coming out next year that you might like, called Hope Dies Last. I know I'll be looking forward to reading it!
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624630/hope-dies-last-by-alan-weisman/
Mentioning that because the idea of revolutionary optimism sounds very much related to this entire conversation. That would be a revolution I could get behind, one of care. I think that gets right to the deep ethics of optimism, to not give up on it.
Sounds like you have a pretty amazing daughter!
First of all, that retreat sounds absolutely magical.
The deep ethics of optimism. Whew, going to be holding that in my heart for a while. Thank you
It was pretty amazing. Helped by the fact that all the mentors were generous, curious, seemed authentically interested in everyone's work and exploring the ideas together, and incredibly -- for people coming from the literary, music, and theater worlds -- free of ego. Pico is still a friend, and has never been anything but generous and kind. The more writers I know, the more I value those who manage to wrangle their ego into some kind of balance.
I love this piece, Antonia, probably because it centers around a phrase you don't understand but that you offer to us anyway, to make our own meanings of (or to make collective meaning, perhaps). I have phrases and images like this that have lived with me, sometimes for decades, before I get the epiphany you mention, and suddenly, their meaning is clear. Your deep ethics of optimism made me think about the phrase "deep time work," which keeps coming up for me lately. I know that I'm supposed to be (want to be) doing deep time work right now. What does that mean? I have some ideas, but I am also following what feels like a faint but still visible trail to see where those words lead.
Thank you, Emily! I'm sure that a part of me hopes someday someone will have an interpretation that makes it all fall into place with me -- that epiphany -- but it hasn't happened yet.
And oh goodness, yes. Deep time work. I am likely trying to follow that trail, too, with similar uncertainty. It's an excavation and discovery that might never end.
Thanks, Antonia. Yep, no end.
I read your "what does it mean? what does it mean?" in the voice of Jack Skellington. 'Tis the season, and all that.
I wondered, in this 837th rewatching of the film, at the allegories I'd missed in the previous 836 viewings. How Jack saw something and wanted it. How it thought it could just see it and recreate it based on surface observations. How he then claimed he do it even better on his first try. I'm sure this was all a lot more obvious a lot sooner to a lot of people, but it was definitely a "hey, wait..." moment for my brain this time.
And so I feel that with "the deep ethics of optimism", I am Jack who perhaps just went through the tree's door of a tree. Alice down the rabbit hole. And as much as I have my first thoughts from Brain 1 hollering in my mind about what I believe and think about it, I'm going to not. I'm going to look for the deep ethical optimism in the world and find ways to ask questions of those that are in it. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom.
I'm also going to wonder how much of this will make sense when this head cold clears and I come back to it...but until then, here we are.
"I'm going to look for the deep ethical optimism in the world and find ways to ask questions of those that are in it. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom." That is what I keep trying to do. Learn from the wells of others' wisdom and experience.
I have to admit I've never seen that movie but after what you wrote about Jack Skellington I might have to!
And I hope your cold is better. Fluids, rest, etc., etc. 💚
The songs alone are worth it. The cold is a slow mend but the fluids are flowing and carrying it along. Thank you for the well wishes.
I will check it out!
I will be thinking about the deep ethics of optimism all week. There’s something about an imperative in there, about strength and privilege and collaboration.
That echoes what Sherri said in her comment, too, about what optimism asks of us, and how there's a collective and collaborative imperative inherent in the very question. If you're both saying it, I know there's something deep there because your mind and hers are two that I look to for clear vision!
In supporting young Congolese refugee artists who have lived in refugee settlement camps for more than half their young lives, I've come up close and personal to the conundrum of optimism. How does one maintain any sense of optimism when due to lack of clean water, health care and food people around you are dying and there is now way out? I never have an answer for the big questions my sweet informally adopted brother of 22, the leader of this artist collective, asks... Why me? How do I continue? How is this life so hard and injust for some of us? Recently after one of these conversations, he and the artists decided to travel 2 hours to the local mountain where they played games, danced,.and sang. Just a few weeks later they visited new refugees from DRC and played games and painted hands and faces. The deep ethics of optimism also eludes me and I don't suggest that any optimism is what's at play when the artists trek to the mountain, regroup and paint at an open market, or bring joy through art to new refugee children. I think it's a deep ethic of "when you have nothing left to do, always love". Optimism is derived from the Latin "best". Maybe it's about being out best selves even in the absolute worst circumstances?
Oh, Emily, this was absolutely beautiful, especially this part, which is a lesson I think a LOT of people need, especially in a country where, still, so many do not understand how many freedoms and comforts we have: "I think it's a deep ethic of "when you have nothing left to do, always love"."
That's the lesson I walk with from my family who lived under Stalin, trying to be the best self possible under the worst possible circumstances.
Thank you. 💚
“The deep ethics of optimism“. I love this phrase. Have I sent you my post from 2017, Accepting Hopelessness, before? I think maybe I was exploring the same idea, but didn’t have this potent phrase. https://blog.entire.life/accepting-hopelessness-a3abd225eae9
I think maybe there’s two basic paths: 1) giving up / nihilism / not trying to improve anything except your own situation, or 2) acting like there’s some possibility of the world getting better, no matter how improbable it seems. Action despite hopelessness. The latter is the deeper ethic. To choose optimism.
(Which, as it turns out, has become the unofficial motto of my hometown, in recent years. “Choose optimism.“ You know shit is bad if that’s your town motto 😅)
I hadn't read that before, but how beautiful, thank you. "Hopelessness being a beginning starts to come more clearly into focus" is perfect.
I think "action despite hopelessness" is, as you say, the deeper ethic. I think about this a lot as a lesson from my childhood -- that you can fight like hell even when you have no hope of anything changing.
Goodness, that motto does say a lot about a town! Almost in line with "could be worse."
Deep ethics/ exploring
we/ optimism
Thank you for sharing this line and while I don't have answers, I find an intrinsic need to respond. Because the phrase is calling me. Rather loudly, in fact. "we are exploring the deep ethics of optimism"
1st thought: what does optimism ask/require of us? Presence and positive future-orientation. Optimism asks us to be some kind of believers, to have faith; not in a religious sense, just in a human existence kind of way.
2nd thought: ethics of optimism is actually another ask: what must we sacrifice or prioritize to commit to a positive future-orientation? How might we need to wrangle our egos in that process? Against which impulses would we need to guard ourselves to tap into a collective wealth/wisdom?
3rd thought: "We are exploring" - this is not an individual undertaking which makes the prospect of shared optimism both more appealing (belonging, community) and also more complicated . The deep ethics relate to the collective and the individual's relation to the collective. to explore emphasizes open-endedness; space to seek, discover, encounter what's possible by and for the group as well as for the individual within the group.
I'm thinking too about dance as a shared human practice. Whenever I enter a room of people willing to dance, to move according to a facilitator's suggestions, I experience this sense of shared optimism. In that room, in that context, for those two hours, we take care of each other. We support and encourage each other. There is both challenge and also a lot of joy. We create something we didn't know of before. Considering the ethics that makes such an encounter possible among friendly strangers in a public space - all of it hinges on people bringing a willingness to engage with others - to see and be seen. Perhaps the depth refers to a possibility that resides in each of us, that only needs the right conditions to bloom and flourish.
Although I may be rambling, I've enjoyed thinking out loud here. Also, thank you for mentioning Care at the Core. It was a lovely surprise while reading.
These thoughts are incredible. Truly. First off asking what optimism asks of us -- it flips the question and reminds me of the question in Richard Powers's The Overstory: What does green ask of us? And second, what must we sacrifice or prioritize, and what kind of internal work does that ask us to do? What within our own selves do we have to face in order to truly work toward a world we'd like to see?
"The deep ethics relate to the collective and the individual's relation to the collective." YES. What can the individual find for the group within themselves, and what can the group make space for or provide for the individual?
I was thinking a bit about your writing on dancing as I wrote this, as well as Care at the Core, especially since the whole exploration of optimism, or the invitation to explore, came up in the context of dancing, individually but in a group. "We create something we didn't know before" -- I love that. That is ART. "Considering the ethics that makes such an encounter possible among friendly strangers in a public space" -- whew, that is HUMANING. Living. Being alive, as fully alive and present as possible.