Upon occasion, I have been accused of being “a Pollyanna.” Which, by the way, is an insult. I could get into the oddness of how being compared to a character who tries to spread joy is an insult, but meh, I get it. Relentless cheerfulness in the face of real stressors is annoying. It would annoy me, too.

Midcoast resident Heather D. Martin wants to know what’s on your mind; email her at heather@heatherdmartin.com.

The opposite is also true. My loved ones have been known to beg me, with real emotion, to please stop talking when I get on a roll about what I see as a historical possibility in our collective future.

In truth, I feel that neither of these summations fully captures the real me – or maybe it is that they both do and I am chafing against the insistence that I am one or the other instead of a swirled together mixture.

Anyway, when it comes to this space and this conversation, every once in a while, I worry I am leaning in a little too hard on the cheer – and I fear that somehow that rings false with reality. Like spreading frosting on Brussels sprouts.

In those moments, I write out something caustic and strident instead, hoping that the serious tone will bring about a change. Sometimes, well, it’s a lot. I am the first to admit it.

More importantly, that too rings false. It’s not that I don’t genuinely feel frustrated and worried – I do – but I also know that no one has ever changed my mind by yelling at me, so why would I think I could get a different result when I do it?

Madness.

So, as I sat, chewing the cheek, torn between risk of over-optimism and risk of being a quagmire, an old friend posted a quote by Howard Zinn.

Zinn, if you don’t know his work, was an activist, an author and a Jewish man who served in World War II. He was an intellectual – and a man who lived an astounding life of action and purpose. He is a person I respect, and certainly not a fluffy ball of sunshine. And yet, here is what he himself had to say about moments such as these:

“There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment we will continue to see. We forget how often in this century we have been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions, by extraordinary changes in people’s thoughts, by unexpected eruptions of rebellion against tyrannies, by the quick collapse of systems of power that seemed invincible.

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

“What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

“And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

So there it is. I like it. I agree and I accept the challenge. It does not mean I stop bearing witness to the hard stuff. It simply means I continue to construct my own events as well.

Zinn’s words give me permission to be hopeful and strive for beauty, work for beauty. To believe in possibility.

I hope his words do the same for you. Let’s create a lovely life.