Isms: Views on life in rural America

I saw a quote recently and it’s been on my mind since then: “The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.”

I like surprises, that’s the optimist in me shining through, looking for a lesson worth learning or a silver lining.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of pessimism in the world today. I see and hear it often in casual conversations and on social media. Its tentacles are permeating society, pulling us farther apart, creating a divide that will take years and years to correct.

It’s unfortunate.

I’ve been leafing through “The...