Certain aspects of modern life seem to have been improved in some ways, by bad things happening. Surfing the Silver Lining is a recurring feature, a grab-bag of items from the recent to the historical, from the global to the personal, wherein we take a moment to look on the bright side of the bad news.
Of course, no one is trying to say the bad stuff is good! Yet we can still look at the whole picture clear-eyed. There's no sense pretending it's all bad, when we can all benefit from the judicious application of a little positivity, here and there, only as warranted.
Hitler did an awful lot of bad things, but he also pretty much irreversibly stigmatized a style of mustache that - let's face it - was never going to look good on anybody. Now, if only he had worn a goatee. It's arguable as to which is the lesser evil there, facial-hair wise.
In the 1980's, the emergence of crack cocaine and the subsequent widespread decimation of urban community life provided the stimulus to spur African American music and entertainers to new heights of urgency and gritty realism.
It's possible that the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill could have a beneficial effect on many marine species' populations. The key question is: will spill-related killoff prove to have a lesser net effect (deleteriousness-wise) than the depredations of business-as-usual overfishing? With fishing suspended indefinitely, and wildlife kills relatively low thus far, we may see a situation where many populations grow not despite the catastrophe, but because of it.
The hollower my eye sockets get, the more I realize, I have gorgeous cheekbones. Absolutely gorgeous.
This has been Surfing the Silver Lining. Stick with me as I keep the bad squarely in view - always trying to pick out the little gleams and glints!
3 comments:
So true. I could do well to heed these lessons Joe. A bit more positivity is important.
The older I get, the deeper the “laugh lines” become that are radiating out from the corner of my eyes. The deeper they become, the less I have to try to seem amused by someone’s anecdote. A slight squint and I look thoroughly entertained.
The more I see on telly of man’s inhumanity to man, the less harsh I am on myself about that time I stuck my recorder in my grandad’s ear and blew really hard.
Wait - how old were you at the time?
Old enough to know what I was doing was not right. Maybe 7 or 8. I can still remember the moment quite vividly, but can't recall my motivation. Was a little out of character for me because I did love my Grandad very much. But having said that, it may surprise you to hear this, but I was quite a cheeky child.
Post a Comment