“I want to know how you can be so optimistic.”
I don’t know why, but this has become a common thread in my conversations lately. As I’ve been briefing advocates on the current political landscape, and helping friends make sense of the recent election, a thought like this almost always creeps into the conversation.
Until yesterday I’m not sure I had a great answer.
You see, yesterday I saw a video that just seemed to set up camp in my mind for hours on end. It was a recording of Michael J. Fox – Alex P. Keaton himself – receiving a humanitarian award from the Academy (you know, the Oscars people). Recognizing his unparalleled advocacy for those living with Parkinson’s, his peers in the industry paused to celebrate the tremendous impact he’s made on the world.
And, as they should, they had him take the stage.
There he was. Every bit of the sparkle a generation grew up knowing just absolutely pouring out of him. Affliction be damned, he was all the best parts of Marty McFly and Mike Flaherty, Scott Howard and Lewis Rothschild (if you don’t know those references I just can’t help you).
But what got me was his humility about the work he’d done off stage. He shared the reality of his journey to accepting his own Parkinson’s diagnosis and embracing a new calling to do something about it.
And ever so discreetly, he taught us what should be a new mantra for all of us:
Gratitude.
I know the pop culture self-help acolytes hear this everywhere, but in the world of advocacy I’m not sure we put it into practice enough. I know I still don’t.
The truth is, what keeps me going is realizing just how lucky I am to be doing what I do. A guy from the west side of Columbus, with an odd last name and no family connections, yet here I am – living out the opportunity to help others show up day in and day out for the causes that motivate them. And I’m surrounded by an industry full of professionals who can say a lot of the same.
We take it for granted – this system of ours. Despite its human imperfection, and despite the frustrations that can come with partisan bickering, we have never truly lost our ability to shape the work of that system. The whole of our history has been the slow – many times all too slow – march toward greater agency, greater opportunity, for more people to be involved in that important work.
Why is that?
Well, because at our core, Americans are deeply optimistic. Even in the current age of wedge issues and partisan hackery, I get to see volunteer advocates show up day after frustrating day, to advance their causes. They willingly show up to push against the ocean…because they can.
Just two weeks ago, predominantly young voters – a group with every reason to be checked out in the current moment – shocked the world by drastically altering the end result of the election simply by showing up. Ignore their hope and optimism at your own peril. Hope for a future not yet realized and optimism that there’s still a chance to get there. That’s not naïveté, it’s the American way.
At the constitutional convention of 1787, the most influential delegates – Madison, Morris, Randolph and Hamilton – were all in their thirties; still young even by their contemporary standards. They’d challenge the status quo of the Articles of Confederation and boldly put forth an alternative – fighting tooth and nail to reach consensus. Then Hamilton and Madison took their respective talents to the fight again and again until ratification. Don’t you think they were grateful to take on that fight and stand among the giants of their age?
I know so many, spanning the entirety of the political spectrum, who are tired and frustrated. They wonder how they can carry on the work when their team loses, their bill dies in committee, or their issue is swept away by the crisis du jour. The good ones, the successful ones, know a big secret: the wins don’t motivate us. The process does. We GET TO BE a part of it. Tapping into that understanding can only yield one result – a deep sense of gratitude.
I’ve always found it fitting that one of our most important national holidays is a day of giving thanks. Pausing. Before the Christmas rush, after the harvest has come in, to just be grateful. It’s no wonder why two of our great leaders – Washington and Lincoln both – advocated for a day of prayer and thanksgiving. Two men who faced incredible odds, who stepped into the breach, and had to be optimistic about what could be. I think they knew something about their countrymen: we all need that spiritual sustenance if we are going to feed our American identity.
I don’t know how you’re going to spend your holiday this weekend. I do know many of us will groan as we go around the table telling everyone what we are grateful for this year. But thanks to Fox’s timely reminder, I have an answer I won’t have to groan about when answering that common question I’ve been getting so much lately.
How am I optimistic in the face of it all?
Because I’m grateful I can be part of it all.
If you want to see Fox’s acceptance speech for yourself, you can view it here.
Part of the Possible 