Cultivating Positivity by Returning Magic to the World

I’m trying to cultivate a more positive outlook. Maybe that means returning magic to the world.

This article is brought to you by someone susceptible to: rumination on past traumas; insecurities about present realities; and wariness about the uncertain future. So, a human.

Our humanity is both our blessing and our curse. I do find it responsible and practical to keep perspectives in balance and accept things for what they are rather than how we might wish they could be. But maybe we don’t always need to yo-yo between the darkness and the light.

Lately, I have been being challenged to enjoy basking in the sun despite knowing that nightfall will eventually come. So, bask I will.

… Ouch. A sunburn.

I identify as a realist, though my mindset is often misconstrued as pessimism. Is it misconstrual?

The pushback I have been receiving is gentle, assertive, knowledgeable. By all means, toxic positivity is just that: a toxic denial of the severity of the situation at hand. So, where is the middle ground?

I think a/the source of my pessimism might be my losing sight of the magic in the world. I don’t just mean having ‘awakened’ from the fever dream now threatening societal collapse (what some describe as escaping an illusory matrix). There is also an annoyingly constant habit of mine to respect my intensive scientific knowledge base by readily — always — defaulting to an, “Oh, that’s because…”, response to musings about ourselves and the natural world. I try not to impress this behavior on others, lest my ego manifest as arrogance and pride. But I do it to myself — constantly — and, lately, I’ve started to question whether this mental practice is self-kind.

Magic, magic, everywhere…

Some of my inner turmoil comes from balancing my identities as a spiritual atheist and a modern scientist trained in materialistic paradigms.

I think we all grapple with embracing a self-comforting worldview that balances the rationality of the known and the mystery of the unknown.

Finding that sweet spot of balance is a hobby of mine. Some explain that hobby by my ‘being’ a Libra. But that’s silly. We all know it’s because my spirit is a zebra. A Zelibra — ope.

I find it fascinating how the stories we tell ourselves inspire how we manifest reality.

Truly, your life is the story you tell yourself. I need to ask: What, exactly, am I narrating?

We are told to be the change we want to see in the world. Even if you italicize or underline that statement, it will always be bold. And I agree with the heartfelt sentiment. But I confess that I have a habit of trying to carry the world on my shoulders. That points to my empathy, yes. It also points to my trying to put others’ oxygen masks on them before masking up myself. (See that realism/pessimism kicking in?)

I think it’s time to let my shoulders rest.

No one should carry the weight of the world (see Jonas in “The Giver”). After all, life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.

This recent inspiration has prompted me to challenge my inner monologue (did you know that not everyone has one?) and reevaluate how I approach the world.

My existential worries about our sociopolitical, ecological, and climate crises have left me tangled in the spiral web of the following mindset:

A. What if society collapses? What if the ongoing, sixth mass extinction collapses biodiverse ecosystems around the globe? What if apocalyptic climate catastrophes ultimately return humans to the pre-industrial, uncertain hunter-gatherer times of days gone by?

What if? What if? What if?

Oh, cultivating a more positive outlook on my personal and our collective trajectories will not ‘magically’ assuage these worries.

I am deeply fearful that we are approaching the final act in the play of our self-inflicted demise. Still, this Zelibra would like to at least try embracing a mindset such as the following:

B. What if we actually come together and create a collective, equitable, and just society that balances our means of enjoying the present and prepares us to endure the likely inevitable hardships of the not-so-distant future? What if we actually protect Nature and transition the rapacious practices of big corporations to truly sustainable and world-loving means of flourishing humanity, knowing that we will need to make sacrifices along the way? What if we actually figure our shit out and devote ourselves to passionately adapting to the rapidly changing climates and prepare the planet for a post-fossil-fuels world?

Even the ‘positive’ mindset is stewed in uncertainty. But I don’t think that hope is lost. And I need to have hope. For myself. For two children whom I love deeply. For the future of humanity.

Yes, Earth will go on even if she rids herself of the cancer that calls itself the sapiens.

I want our species to have hope and pragmatically create effective solutions to our problems. Cultivating that change in the world means manifesting change within ourselves.

I don’t have any ‘magical’ solutions to our problems. But there is magic in our creating them. No, hope is not enough. We also need to find faith in humanity, and love — truly — one another, ourselves, and the planet. Cultivating this loving-kindness may actually help us to save ourselves and much of the breathgiving beauty that we call life. So, where do we go from here?

I think it means stepping back and reevaluating how we view ourselves and the world.

Surely I’m not the only one overwhelmed by the bizarre unfoldings of our shared journey on Earth. The wicked cool and unnerving advents of AI are a bold reminder that no one actually knows what the magic that we call human consciousness really is.

And I love to follow Alice down the philosophical rabbit hole: Are we products of an unflinchingly inanimate universe? Creations of a paradoxically all-powerful God? Denizens of a solipsistically sophisticated simulation? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“You can’t handle the truth!” Maybe that’s true for us all.

What does seem to be the reality is that we are all ‘here’ on this bizarre and beautiful blue ball of mystery, magic, and intrigue, marching towards the same inevitable fate but trying to enjoy the journey while we can.

Don’t we see? The real magic didn’t disappear. It’s all around. And it’s us.

Just because I can teach for hours how plants and some microorganisms perform photosynthesis and use light energy to sustain us all, doesn’t negate the fact that we still don’t understand the ‘fundamental’ nature of energy and matter.

Similarly, expounding upon the universal genetic (computer?) code used by viruses and all life forms on Earth, doesn’t settle the debate of whether life originated through replicative processes or in metabolic pathways.

The mystery of how we got here, and the uncertainty about where we are headed, are each an impetus for believing that our existence is something magical.

I’m not sure if this will work, but I’m trying to use the ‘magic’ all around us to catalyze my own hope and optimism. After all:

Despite whatever the future holds, I am here, and I want to continue living with dignity and frivolity.

May [whatever force you want] be with you.

Be well.