Life
Biologists will tell you that the wonder of our world is that it is a literal hotbed for life. Everywhere on the planet. From rain forests to deserts and from the depths of the oceans to the highest peaks, there is life everywhere. It does not even all need sunlight to succeed. The key connecting factor appears to be energy. So whether it is next to a volcanic geyser under the sea or slow-growing bacteria in a permafrost, there is life everywhere, growing and multiplying sometimes in what we would consider extremely hostile conditions. But where we flourish, others perish and vice versa. Still, the struggle for life keeps us optimistic.
Energy
The connecting factor for life on earth is literally energy, sometimes stored from sunlight and slowly released in the way that a log burns in a fire, sometimes apocalyptic with the eruption of a volcano. Once we had worked out how to survive in this wonderful – but sometimes tricky – world, our minds turned to another kind of energy. The energy that fuels our imagination. A human energy transmitted without cables or Wi-Fi. It is energy that multiplies without diminishing. It is the energy that is captured in creativity. Creativity that is optimistic.
Imagination
When you read a fantastic piece of literature that fires your imagination, nothing is consumed, nothing is lost, wonderment is multiplied. The same is true for a painting, a sculpture, theatre or even conceptual art. All these forms of expression that appeal to you tap into your emotions and enrich you in ways that other nourishment cannot. They give us purpose and direction without telling us what to do. They are optimistic.
Not everything shouts
Applied arts are all around us. They are the shy and retiring relatives of other forms of art, always comforting and seldom confrontational. They exist to serve us, functionally and spiritually. Created by those who have considered other people’s comfort and well-being without knowing or judging them. They are the cross-over between the energy in the physical world and the energy in our imaginations. This might make them the most optimistic form of expression we have. Made because the makers are optimistic.
