How to have a positive outlook on the world today in spite of everything going on.

Answering your questions for the first time.

So this is a first stab at the new advice column, hope you enjoy!

Photo of a Hilma af Klint painting in Düsseldorf, 2024

Question: In light of all the darkness in the world right now, how do you keep a positive outlook on being alive?

–Anonymous

Dear reader,

Thank you for your question. I have certainly asked myself this question many times before and it would seem that a lot of people are asking themselves a question along these lines these days.

I, like you, am just a person navigating life the best way I know how. I do however have a bit of a life philosophy that I apply to these kinds of existential questions and that works really well for me. What I write here will likely challenge some who read it.

First, a little anecdote that I will come back to later: I very much enjoy running and I began noticing bits and pieces of trash along the roads around the little village that I live in. This is quite upsetting to me, I think it’s so pointless, tasteless and disrespectful (to people, animals, the planet…). I saw Beau Miles talking a lot about the trash he regularly picks up while on his runs, so I decided to start doing the same.

In the grand scheme of things, I can’t see how my actions make a difference. Certainly not from a cold hard math perspective. We’re talking a few pieces of trash every few days in one single village in a world of more than 8 billion people. But it makes me feel good and I especially like that instead of just smoldering internally when I see the trash, I do something about it that costs me almost no additional energy.

Well, yesterday I was carrying a couple of plastic bottles and I ran into two men who I’ve seen around before. They were doing yard work along the side of the road. It turns out they’re the two village gardeners that maintain things like the grass along the sidewalks and I found this out because I stopped my run to say hello. They saw the trash in my hands and lightened up, told me that I could toss it in the truck, and that they too are regularly picking up trash when doing their work.

So I told them: “Amazing. Well, I guess we’re a team, then. You can count on me to do my little part,” and I meant it and that made me feel fucking amazing.

***

Isn’t it interesting how such a small thing can make such a big difference on an emotional level? Ok so now let’s zoom out a little. If we look at the “darkness in the world right now” to use your parlance, I invite you to think of a time in human history when barbaric things haven’t taken place. I certainly cannot. I guess I don’t really know what it was like to be alive in any time prior to the late 20th century or early 21st century, but nothing I have seen or read about history makes me think there is any time in history that horrible things haven’t been happening. No time I could time travel to, to escape the BS.

That doesn’t erase any of the horrible stuff going on, but what I’m saying is that a part of the package deal of being a human being in any time period is a mix of extraordinary beauty and shit sandwich.

Maybe the big difference pre-internet was that you didn’t know what was happening outside of your little tribe or village or region, but they were still happening. If the goal is not knowing about it, you can still do that today, you just have to get off the internet. But I suspect your question is not about becoming ignorant to the happenings of the world.

Before I get to the part where I explain how I retain an appreciation and joy for life, I do think that it’s important to remember the control you have over your informational diet and what you consume. Just because it’s all happening doesn’t mean you need to inundate yourself with it. Doom scrolling only happens if someone is doing the scrolling.

What I see on the internet is a lot of pointing the finger and blaming someone else.

On the other hand, a 2 minute interaction with two gardeners in real life got me fired up and ready to fulfill my role as Chief Deputy Runner of the Anti-Trash Squad in my village.

Still, horrible things happen all around the world, wars are being waged pointlessly, the environmental situation is concerning, people are senselessly attacking each other online, all the things right? Whether I’m taking care of myself or not, those things are still happening. So what do we do about it? How do I not fall into despair?

This is where I think I have a different worldview that most.