I wrote something in a message at work today that I’ve never articulated this way before, but that I completely and utterly believe in. I’ll paraphrase it here to spare you my slap-dash Slack-speak.
My philosophy in life is this: be wildly optimistic or filled with unending fury, but never succumb to mere apathy.
The broader, more pithy version is probably something like: “always choose to feel alive”—to really feel it, I mean. After all, what’s the point otherwise? If you want to have a rich life, choose to feel alive.
This sort of framing applies to many things, and roughly boils down to “if you want the thing, open yourself completely to the thing.”
To write interesting things, have interesting experiences.
To shoot better landscapes, traverse many great lands.
To feel overwhelming love, love overwhelmingly.
Dreams die sooner from indifference than they do from external forces. Love dies sooner from neglect than it does from conflict. If something is important to you, it’s worthy of real feeling.
Optimism, fury, whatever—but never apathy.