please login to something to say on the subject

Wildblood's loving that sunshine feeling

The future's bright

Kate Wildblood

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Optimism. It’s a funny old thing. Fleeting sometimes, fabulous always, optimism seems to come hand in hand with sunshine. And it’s easy to write of it today as rays shine through my window and heat rises. Perhaps it’s living beside the sea in Brighton, perhaps it’s the promise of the season to come but there is something seductive about this time of year.

But is a serotonin surge the simplest way to explain the optimism I’m currently feeling? Am I, like the majority of the country, guilty of collective fingers in ears as we sing “la-la-la I’m not listening”? I’m purposively not tuned into BBC Radio 4 today for instance. It’ll be UK budget overload. A chancellor dividing and subtracting in attempt to float the nation, whilst commentators desperately try to relate it to me, the listener. Except I’m no two point four family, single unemployed youth or retired pensioner with savings. So where do I stand? And will it make any difference to my state of mind anyway?

Sure we’re going out less, consuming more own brands and trying to balance global fair trade with our own low wage but as for a depression. Do you feel depressed? I certainly don’t. But does that make me part of the buy now pay later generation. Saving is for suckers, right?

As the news encourages most of us to hide in a session of ‘oh dearism’ are we just doing the natural thing? I’ve done behavioural therapy (and yes it’s all it’s made out to be including the box of ubiquitous standby tissues) and it felt to me that ‘distraction, distraction, distraction’ was part of the answer. Don’t dwell, deal. (Even if you way of dealing with things is to accumulate that which makes you feel better about yourself.) And fill your life up with the good stuff (memories / people / parties). That way you have a natural buffer zone when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

Nice theory. Will it work though? I like to think so. As the summer season approaches and all is looking shiny and new again I reckon we’ve got the right idea. We’re not hiding from reality – we’re trying to buffer it with optimism. Because that feeling that “the sun’s gonna keep on shining” gets us up in the morning, baking in the afternoon and dancing in the evening. An optimistic thought a day keeps the global recession away. Yes?