In times like these when what’s going wrong is far more obvious than what’s going right, and being afraid is easy and can even seem sensible, we need to infect one another with whatever optimism we can get hold of.<\/p>\n
It’s funny where it comes from, that feeling of uplift that can just take over and make you float like a helium balloon. Sometimes all it takes is a sunny day. We had one of those today in New York City. It was cold as the dickens but so bright the city sparkled. My first task this morning wasn’t a happy one: I took Aspen, our lovely dog that I mentioned in yesterday’s post, to the veterinary oncologist for her chemo. But she was happy to greet everyone at the clinic and smell smells only a dog can enjoy, so I left her with the thought, “This is helping her get better.”<\/p>\n
I went into a coffee bar for a chai tea and a New York Times<\/i>. One of my to-do entries was to buy one of those “body shapers” so I’ll start wearing a certain clingy dress instead of leaving it in my closet. I went out of my way a bit to purchase it at a shop that’s not a big chain. That felt good—kind of like “Put your money where your morality is.” Then I picked up some groceries at Fairway Market on Broadway and at some point there—before the groceries or after, I’m not really sure—the helium feeling took over and I was filled with gratitude, and joy, and that lightness of being that seems to come of its own accord.<\/p>\n
I spent the afternoon with my most positive friend. She’s helping me book speaking engagements for the second half of this year. And when the optimism she has every day collided with the optimism I had this day, it was as if we went from helium to jet fuel. Although we worked all afternoon, we glided through it instead of trudging through it. <\/p>\n