I believe if we were to face ourselves as we truly are, and as
  we appear to be from all perspectives at once (everybody we ever
  knew, or will know), from the perspective of the grass we step
  on, from the bacteria that inhabit us, all simultaneously, we
  just couldn't handle the cognitive load and might find it
  terrifying to face.

  I'm talking about both the right and wrong impressions others
  have of us, and the ones we have of ourselves. Reality includes
  a *lot* of fiction, alas.

  Escaping to more idealistic territory, well,I don't think
  there's a part of human history that didn't have some sort of
  utopian dream.

  Even "I wish everybody could see all the bullshit out there and
  the lies they tell themselves" - is a form of optimism. There's
  a utopian vision hiding in there. "jilted optimist" as it were.

  The main other option that I see (and there are undoubtedly more
  than 2) - is situation-by-situation "facing reality". Even then,
  there is optimism about a particular situation, goal-oriented
  behavior whose foundation is on an individual needs/wants basis.

  As long as there is a complaint or a wish, or even a bit of
  wistful thinking, there's an optimist, an idealist and a dreamer
  hiding within. [imho]

  It's not necessarily a bad thing either. You have hope because
  you haven't given up.

You are viewing proxied material from sdf.org. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.