What a Time to be Optimistic
Everywhere we look, people are demanding we be afraid.
Economists demand we fear our wealth evaporating in a “looming” recession.
Politicians demand we fear our neighbors who vote, look, and think differently.
“Experts” still demand we fear living our daily lives without wearing a mask.
And possibly worst of all, the news demands I fear losing my job to AI bots that don’t have the social skills, creativity, or human perspective required to do this.
What a time to be alive.
Things aren’t looking too great. We have more than enough reasons to accept our orders and wake up every morning terrified of our own shadows.
Call me stubborn, privileged, or just plain dumb – but I’m still optimistic about the future. Why?
Back in November, my cousin and I stumbled out of a D.C. bar late one night and later found ourselves at the base of the Washington Monument. (Side note: if you’ve never explored the National Mall after dark, put it on your list of things to do before you die.)
This cousin and I couldn’t possibly be any more opposite. For starters, she’s Chinese and I’m white (story for another time). She’s pretty damn liberal and I’m pretty damn conservative. She sees the glass half empty when I see it half full.
It didn’t take long for us to disagree on some things that night – primarily the idea that it has “never been a worse time to bring a child into the world.”
I don’t know anything about having a kid. But I know from looking at my own family history that times have been more challenging and more uncertain than they are now.
My grandparents were raised in the Dust Bowl.
Then they lost everything in the Great Depression.
Then they fought – and won – World War II.
Then they endured decades of turmoil, war and more economic crisis.
Their lives were defined by hard times – and their grandparents’ lives weren’t any easier.
And they survived.
How? By burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the reality around them?
Nope.
They survived by accepting the reality around them and deciding to not let fear get in the way of taking risks, building businesses, starting families, and living the lives they wanted to live. They had a culture and a mentality of fixing problems instead of creating more – and America would be in better shape if we all followed their example.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this:
There’s nothing new
under the sun.
The same fear and doubt consuming people today have consumed people since the world started spinning. It only feels worse now because we’re in a chapter of history called “weak people make hard times.”
Looking at the pattern of history, we’re due for some hard times soon. A lot harder than they are now. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be optimistic about the future. If anything, it should motivate us to work harder to make the times we’re experiencing and the times coming our way better. Your actions today can change tomorrow’s outcome.
Cool, Jacob. But why are you talking about this? Shouldn’t you just shut up and design?
Yeah, I probably should – and I will. But we need to remember not everything has to be doom and gloom, even when markets crash, wars break out, or Chinese balloons invade.
Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. That’s the exciting thing about life. And like the guy who created a delicious steak sauce in the middle of the Civil War, I’m going to continue doing what I do best in these times:
Using my creativity to help clients communicate complex ideas in a way anybody can understand.
Helping other creatives realize and achieve their full creative potential.
Sharing ideas I find valuable.
