What’s the point?
This blog is meant to be taken lightly and to be read for enjoyment and mental stimulation. I am merely presenting my way of viewing certain topics through the lens of what I call, “Contrarian Optimism.”
Contrarian Optimism?
If you watched the video above, (I spent two hours making it so you damn well better have) you would have seen the definition of contrarian and optimist. These two words sound like they shouldn’t belong in the same sentence so naturally I put them together.
A contrarian brings to mind the idea of the lawyer, or rather the devil’s advocate, or better still, that one weird uncle or annoying niece who has to argue contrapposto to the majority in any conversation. You get the idea. The contrarian is the one who, often for fun, decides to place themselves in opposition to the common consensus on a topic.
The contrarian is the one who, often for fun, decides to place themselves in opposition to the common consensus on a topic.
An optimist, on the other hand, calls to mind images of one of two things; a giant mac truck that can transform into a robot, or a yellow smiley face with two thumbs up saying “keep calm and carry on.” This is the stereotypical “glass half full” mindset. Many, like myself, naturally roll their eyes at these folks, but on the other hand, maybe they have a point.
Is the glass half-full?
These days, the consensus is that meaning is a construct, relative person to person, created by a conscious entity known as a human. But you might say, “Well what even is consciousness?” and I’d say “we’re not going there today pal.”
Anyhow, if the meaning is relative for the most part, then the glass-half-full camp has as much validity as the glass-half-empty folks. The point is fairly simple yet we love to overcomplicate the hell out of it. Glass half full people have more fun. They can laugh at failure, find joy in misery, move mountains and perform a whole lot of other cool motivational phrases. The real question is, why the hell would you not find the good in something?
Glass half full people have more fun. They can laugh at failure, find joy in misery, move mountains and perform a whole lot of other cool motivational feats. The real question is, why the hell would you not find the good in something?
Maybe it’ll make you weak and you’ll be taken advantage of. Nope, I’m not saying be blind and foolish, or lie to yourself. I’m arguing that life becomes more enjoyable when you take advantage of the relativism of things and actively seek out opportunities within undesirable situations. Find a way to make the most of whatever hand you’re dealt or the roll of the dice you receive.
As Confucius once said, “life’s what you make it, so let’s make it rock.”
– Not Confucius
Where is this going?
Every couple of weeks I will post one article on an idea or situation that occurred to me during that week. Each post will try to pick apart that undesirable scenario and twist it into an opportunity.
You can expect to see topics ranging from “Why back pain is a good thing” to “How hairballs can bring a good morning.” In these blog posts, I will attempt to apply Contrarian Optimism to twist these topics around and view them in a new way.
Again, this is my exploration through the lens of “Contrarian Optimism” so don’t take this too seriously. These are for fun exploration and often will include absurd ideas and topics I know little about.
With that being said, I am more than willing to accept submissions for new posts.
Why am I doing this?
The four stoic virtues are Wisdom, Justice, Temperance, and Courage. This blog is my way of putting Wisdom into action. In his article entitled, The Highest Good: An Introduction To The 4 Stoic Virtues, Ryan Holiday explains that
“Wisdom is harnessing what the philosophy teaches and then wielding it in the real world. As Seneca put it, ‘Works not words.’ “ – Ryan Holiday of the Daily Stoic
Through engaging in a weekly review, I find topics to write about and share with my readers. In doing this, I am actively applying my derivation of stoicism, Contrarian Optimism, to my life.
I hope this can help you, the reader, start to apply this to your own life.
P.S. If you don’t agree with me, below is irrefutable proof that I am in fact correct
