A Year Half Gone

Let's review. In the six months that has passed since I vowed to become an optimist, the following has happened:
*We huddled in fear for two months as layoffs at the Star passed over our household.
*In March, Mike learned he would be cut back to part-time status, with a 33 percent cut in pay and additional cuts in benefits.
*We used the company's bridge payment to pay off the credit card, but had to put two college loan payoffs on a one-year forbearance.
*Mike got recognized with a second place award for his column (humor) by the National Newspaper Columnist's Society.
*Mike's doctored picture appeared on the Bill O'Reilly "Factor," where his column (on the killing of abortion Dr. George Tiller) was pummeled. In separate news, he was apparently targeted for reputation destruction by a couple of local bloggers.
*I became interested in the occult.

Oh, I kid. I'm not actually fixing up voodoo dolls and visiting graveyards for revenge rites (as far as you know). But when I look back over the things I've tried on the road to optimism, there does seem to be a theme running through it. The research on the patron saint of journalism, the experiments with karma, the obsession with dolphins and the blue heron totem (they're everywhere! I see them every time I go out.) And there are plenty of things I've tried--brain wave therapy, laughter yoga--that a suspicious Christian nose would sniff out as occultish, but maybe not fully in the black arts.

Sure, I've also tried things with more of a scientific bent. I tried unmindful smiling, putting my voice in the "happy range," that sort of thing. But dang, it's always more work and a lot less fun than finding a New Age charm. Can't I get more optimistic if I spin around in one of earth's special "vortexes" or arm myself with the right crystals? I promise I won't forget to try.

But to business. Boys and girls, what have we learned so far?

A lot of stuff makes you feel better momentarily, but just doesn't stay with you. Kind of like fast food. Smiling constantly is the best example I can think of. I feel better when I smile. Others react positively when I smile (the ones that aren't freaked out). But I just can't keep it up forever.

It really doesn't help to dwell on negative emotions. Sure, imagining your family's blogosphere attackers stumbling through a DUI road test on YouTube may make you feel good (oh, so good). But it really doesn't solve anything, and no amount of chicken entrails will change that.

Forward motion is the only potion. (Like that? I just made that up.Attention Dave Ramsey--this is now a copyrighted catchphrase. Contact me to pay for its use.) Better a shark than a dolphin. In response to our financial crisis, we've started a bunch of new projects. Maybe one of them will end up making us some money.

Meantime, there are new horizons of optimism to explore. For example, what affect do firearms have on mood? And if I visualize something enough, and pretend that it's true, can I make it happen? Or is that something better left to a priestess?

On the Good News front: We managed to sell some wood siding that was in the garage when we bought this house. That replaced most of the vacation money and made it possible to buy our daughter a new cell phone when hers broke just this week. Yay for keeping our heads above water.