‘‘When you wake up in the morning, think about what an immense treasure it is to live, to breathe and to be able to enjoy”. (Marc Aurel) ^[1]

The intellectuals at the edge.org ^[2] asked themselves ”the optimist question” in 2007, and it is a revealing exercise to go through oneself. Doesn’t it feel like the developments of the last few years have been somewhat troublesome, to put it mildly? The climate, the economy, civil liberties and mass culture aren’t really on their best trajectories. So what is it then that makes us go on, apart from the profane task of self-preservation?

———————————–

I believe the human race as a whole is becoming more aware that there is something of a universal consciousness. A sphere of energy, of thought, mind and feelings that connects us all, that makes us all experience pain and joy in similar ways. That divisions of country, race, religion, ideological belief systems and lifestyles are little else but self constructed prisons to make us feel secure with our ”I”, the illusion of an identity consisting of external constructs, while in the end we all share similar dreams of well being and harmony.

Maybe I am naive, but despite 3000 years of history of human civilization we still seem to be fighting the same wars among each other for power, prestige and living space as millennia ago. While we have attained an enormous degree of material well being and a great evolution of ideas, we still are stuck with the reality of our destroyed natural habitat, no matter if terribly urbanized cities or depleted nature. And in our current state of mind as portrayed by the media, the achievement of material success, security and fame seems to have become the only measure by which we recognize success.

Despite all this or better because of this, there is a growing group of globalized cultural thinkers, artists, scientists and politicians that recognize that without a somewhat shared culture of ideas, we will go on killing each other, and the whole system. New information systems help us making this happen faster, and thus need to be open and not controlled.

So I am optimistic about there being many of the right conditions for a quantum jump in human consciousness, call it ‘love’. I believe that since we now almost all can see the tragedies happening daily on a global level, at some people might simply no longer want to be fed constant distraction though entertainment, and then brake out of their apathy and resignation. Maybe we still need to experience more pain before this all happens, and then hopefully also new leaders will emerge.

The establishment of money and power will naturally try not to upset the balance of power and present people that appear as new leaders.

I do hope for some more radical changes. Art might take a lead.

What am I optimistic about for me?

I am looking forward to walking even more my own talk, to doubt less, to fear less.

I am also optimistic about one day being able to touch my toes again, and to have a home where I can play music as loud as I want and dance naked in the garden…..(that’s just the beginning)…..