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Radical Optimism

Posted December 2nd, 2008 by Shane Miller in Personal Philosophies

rad⋅i⋅cal
–adjective
1. of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.
2. thoroughgoing or extreme, esp. as regards change from accepted or traditional forms: a radical change in the policy of a company.
3. favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms: radical ideas; radical and anarchistic ideologues.
4. forming a basis or foundation.
5. existing inherently in a thing or person: radical defects of character.

op·ti·mism
n.
1. A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation: "There is a touch of optimism in every worry about one's own moral cleanliness" (Victoria Ocampo).
2. Philosophy
1. The doctrine, asserted by Leibnitz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
2. The belief that the universe is improving and that good will ultimately triumph over evil.

I choose radical optimism. I choose to use the terrible things of this world as inspiration for change.

 

 

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I like that

Posted January 5th, 2009 by Brendan LaChance

Delicious

Your drive swims like jelly on the palate of my mouth

Invigorating

Like a breath of fresh air being gasped from the sea

Raw

Real and solid, more than a passing whisper

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Yes. Potent.

Posted January 18th, 2009 by Ambo Suno

Shane - this feels so succinctly potent to me. Quite a few years ago I heard a psychologist speak of "radical self-acceptance", and that has nudged me now and again further into daring to move beyond my boundaries of fear and mind-set, social and individual.

Your "radical optimism" will go in my kit, glimmering like a secret modestly wrapped in fine old cloth, and I will experiment with bringing it out often, moving it about in my metaphorical hands to see and feel from different angles, and to allow a smile to form that is appropriate to the quality and size of this enjoining possibility. At first glance radical optimism seems so unlike me; maybe almost simultaneously it feels deeply like a remembered facet of hope, faith, playfulness, humor and, well, implicit optimism.

Thanks for this and other contributions from your life.

Hmm, radical optimism as I gather stuff, get out the door, drive 1953 surfmobile to the ocean, and though tired from several days of surfing allow joy and radical and intrinsic wisdom to lead me and board to water, simplifying the usual inner decision-making. Yooow [splash]. ambo