You Will Be Okay. You Have No Choice.
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- Опубликовано: 3 янв 2024
- Exploring how the concept of "ominous positivity" can inspire us to continue taking action in hopes of creating a better world.
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editing (and intro voiceover) by danae o.!
Bibliography
Roberto Bolaño (2007). “Te Alejarás”. In “La Universidad Desconocida”.
Lochbaum, M., Sherburn, M., Sisneros, C., Cooper, S., Lane, A. M., & Terry, P. C. (2022). “Revisiting the Self-Confidence and Sport Performance Relationship: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis”. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(11), 6381. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116381
The Zen Studies Podcast (2022), “202 - Two Truths: Everything is Okay and Everything is NOT Okay at the Same Time”. zenstudiespodcast.com/indepen...
Mark Fisher (2009). “Capitalism Realism: Is There No Alternative?”
Natural Resources Defense Council (2021). “Regenerative Agriculture 101”. www.nrdc.org/stories/regenera...
NHCPS. “First Aid”. nhcps.com/lesson/cpr-first-ai...
Maricopa Community Colleges. “What Does Sustainable Cooking Mean? Why Does it Matter?” From “FON135 Sustainable Cooking Lab Manual”.
open.maricopa.edu/sustainable...
University of California. “10 Self-Defense Strategies Everyone Needs to Know to Survive”. www.ucdc.edu/sites/default/fi...
Sender, R., & Milo, R. (2021). “The distribution of cellular turnover in the human body”. Nature medicine, 27(1), 45-48. doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-01...
Paulo Freire (1968). “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.
Roman mosaic representing the Wheel of Fortune: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Geological time spiral: es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archi...
Medieval illustration of men harvesting wheat: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Portrait of King Charles I (unknown artist): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Harmen Steenwijck, “Vanitas Still-Life”: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ha...
People's commune canteen (1959): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... 
Развлечения
there are no ways to describe how much I needed this. Thank you
the voice at the beginning is that of my wonderful editor danae, to whom all of my videos and successes are indebted
@@elliotsangestevezHello :D something that I find very funny is that I became a Leftist due to me Belief in Buddhism, Daoism & Confucianism... & I have begun to see more & more Leftist make use of their Metaphysics :] which is absolutely Incredible! I find Leftist Philosophy very Awesome but they lack something... Which is that Connection of their Ideology with their Philosophy... Compassion & Humanitarianism is what drives all Leftist to Socialism & Anarchy... But they always tend separate that Altruistic Ideology with their Left Leaning Philosophy... Because that's how traditional Socialist & Anarchist did things... Which is an entire topic in of itself-... But I've begun to see Leftist adopt an Optimistic/Realist Approach to things... Where they bride the gap & Connect their Ideology with their Philosophy... Which is Exactly what Buddhism, Daoism & Confucianism is :D people are being to realize that you can't Separate the Philosophy from the Ideology... Nihilism is only effective when Paired with Optimisms... Too Optimistic & you Render yourself Blind to the Light... But too Nihilistic & you Render yourself Blind to the Dark... I could go on & on about how important this change is & how Awesome & Incredible it is to see this actively taking place... To see the everyone so United against Coperation & Politics (even if they don't understand their origins with Capital & Governance XD)... & Seeing everyone actively agree on the fix which is Unionization & Urbanization... & Seeing these seeds of Socialism & Anarchism actively taking root is so God Damn Cool :D (Just hope that Republicans don't take power & inact Project 2025 cause if they do then we're FUCKED- but honestly I don't think that's gonna happen & even if it dose that's just gonna end up Polarizing the Country & Radicalizing everyone but again that's another topic...) Any who I am genuinely very excited for 2024 cause I really do believe that this is gonna be the start of something Brand New! Like it's genuinely gonna be a New Year :D thanks for the video & thanks for reading PEACE-
Project 2025? @@watermelonprom7197
@@elliotsangestevezInteresting perspective but I'm in to deep with everything in this civil war. I know once this conflict is through with me I know I'm getting a bullet in my head if shit gets bad..
Except these globalist are in maximum overdrive in this time. Study the evils of the WEF. Arise!!!!!
“In times like these it helps to remember there has always been times like these.”
what about that one week in 1871?
@@ash3972 , perspective is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t look away from the problem, but it doesn’t just focus on it either.
@@ash3972 If there have always been times like these, that means you've already survived through similar things. We often forget how it was once some hardship ends, but if you remember, you might pull some experience from it that will help you this time.
@@ash3972 you ever fix your problems or nah?
@ash3972 to some people surviving is already overcoming. And if you have never ended or fixed NONE of your problems/hardships, then thats on you, honestly
The horrors persist, but so do I.
The challenges you face seem bigger than ever. That is because you have already conquered all the other ones.
@@nuklearboysymbiote Nice quote; Ignorant statement
“Life has never rewarded me for hating it.” Really slapped me in the face. Thank you.
Hasn't rewarded me for loving it tho
@@Swiss816but what do you have to lose? We automatically lose when we are horrible to ourselfs.
@@markus_selloi meanwhile the dirt farmers in burma will always lose because they dont even have working toilets..
@@markus_selloi the belief that we automatically lose is half-true.
@@infinidimensionalinfinitie5021 if your objective is to not harm yourself, then it definitely is a loss. If we want to put more hurdles in front of us, then we can do that, but it definitely is not helpful. I struggle with self hate my whole life. We need to use our energy wisely, it is too hard to go into self hating loops..
"ominous positivity" is how I've been making it through life. "I'm okay, I have to be."
Fortune is on its way. There is no escape.
During those times, I've been more like, "I'm not okay, but that doesn't mean I won't ever be okay". It turned out I was right in most aspects & in other aspects, what I considered my "worst case" then has turned out not to be the intolerable outcome I thought it would be.
In short: things can change; but just as importantly, *I* can change.
Same. All I can do is pills and therapy and keep it moving because I have no other choice. It sucks and it's not worth it but at least I'm not a burden on others and in 40 - 50 years it'll be over
You’ll be okay… you have no choice.
Sending positive vibes to you!
There's no use resisting
Anywhere there is anxiety, there is uncertainty, and anywhere there is uncertainty, there is hope.
man, i’m coining that
I LOVE THIS thank you friend❤
Word
🙌
my friend told me at one of my lowest points in life to keep living, because if i keep struggling, theres a chance i make it out, compared to a 0% if i end it, and that's whats keeping me alive today.
There is no escape from good fortune😉
I don’t know why, but reading this actually made me tear up a little because I realize just how much happier I am now because I kept living through honestly the worst time of my life in recent years. Thank you.
@@apile0fb0nes36 Surviving the darkest timeline is the single greatest achievement throughout the multiverse
I'm so glad you're here!!!
🖤💜💙💚💙💜🖤
Much Love!!
What a great friend you have :)) I've also came to this conclusion after being so tired of being depressed, after attempting to end my life three times and failing it. I still get depressed (I am indeed in a very hard moment rn), but I understood that the crucial thing I have to do in order to get better is giving myself the opportunity of getting better. That means being alive. I will be okay, eventually. When I can't to any better for myself, the only thing I have to do is to stay alive. All the bad times will pass and I'll be relieved. All the good times will pass and I will be happy for the memories which will fuel me trough the bad times. Life is hard and very beautiful. Is really worth the effort :)
Love ominous positivity. As someone who rely on rational and logic a lot, this way of thinking is calming and reassuring to me.
"hopelessness is not an option for people in desperate circumstances. their survival depends upon their belief that they can get through what is in front of them and that better things can come." as a survivor my entire life, this is so true.
Ominous positivity is literally what gets me through the toughest times in my life.
As someone who is naturally pessimistic, this gave me a new perspective. I live in a country that is heavily affected by the imperialist agenda and we are oppressed by our own government. Things get really bad and I forget to have a positive outlook on life and in that state I begin to neglect the positive changes or efforts people take to bring change. You're right. I don't get to say that anyone's efforts are in vain, and I will try to keep that in mind from now on. Thank you for making me look at life a little bit differently.
Which one?
@@LaplacesShaytanI wanted to know the same thing so that I could decide whether or not I concur with their assessment. Perhaps it's better to not know.
@@pattyofurniture That's an interesting reply. So, would you say that you are aware of every single country's politics and foreign relations? because to evaluate weather you agree with me or not, you'd have to know everything about global politics.
@@Acuriouscase77 no, I wouldn't and no, I wouldn't.
I feel like I know where you are from because what you described seems so similar to my experience. Even if we are in completely different parts of the world, I wish you and your people all the strength and luck you might need to get through these times. Change is inevitable, after all.
here in the philippines, activists have the literal risk of being kidnapped and (presumably) tortured by the military to be forced to "surrender" as an underground rebel
this video encapsulates what we tell to ourselves to keep the struggle alive
also, the pedagogy of the oppressed is my favorite book
may our activists live long, keep the fight going, and multiply :') it takes so much strength to have beliefs in this country
I heard about that.. crazy how it’s not more shared across the world. May justice pay off, my thoughts and prayers goes to you 🌟
To paraphrase: Be hopeful because change is inevitable.
Brilliant.
@@ash3972 There's no reason for you to be a pest either, yet both seem inevitable to anyone who's been on this merry-go-round more than a few times.
except we know for a fact it's gonna get worse
so more delusional than brilliant
@@YM-zf8mt You adapt or you don't.
@@noracola5285 well ignoring the facts isn't exactly what i call adapting
@@YM-zf8mt Then don't.
This philosophy dawned on me one day when I was about 18. I had been suicidal for so long. I was listening to the Regina Spektor song Firewood and the line "everyone knows you're going to live, so you might as well start trying" just really sank in and I realized that my only option was to keep going because the option of suicidal was terrible.
Sometimes it seems almost mystifying how fast things can change in your life for the better and for no apparent reason. Things felt stuck especially bad for the past two years for me and before that for most of my life too, things still always got better for a while, but now it really seems I can't escape how good my life is starting to become. There are still things that need sorting out, but it doesn't matter, they too will get sorted by me eventually. New challenges will come, new tragedies will befall me, but it doesn't matter, I will get through them too. It will suck, I will complain. Eventually again I will arrive at a place where I get to be in awe of how good things can suddenly become. I have been broken physically before, I have been ground up mentally, I healed what I could and things change. I really cannot escape getting better anymore, the time has come for the sun to shine once more and I will gladly bask in it's glory.
Beautiful!
The last few weeks have been the hardest thing for me to go through and your comment brought me a bit of reassurance. Thank you
Such a beautiful comment, hope I will be there to bask in that sun too ✊
Gorgeous and im glad you're continuing to heal and improve in a good way! I hope everyone who needs it is able to do that!❤
This almost brought me to tears. Beautiful.
I struggle with addiction, PTSD, Depressiom, and Schizoaffective Disorder. I’m 27 and I have been extremely lost, isolated, and hopeless for about seven years. I have no community, friends, and hardly any connections in my family. Everywhere I look there are broken memories and trauma from childhood, adolescence, and relationships. Currently, I am yearning for new connections. The internet is an awfully toxic and lonely place nowadays due to echo chambers, polarization, bullying, etc. As for your video, I agree about your stance on capitalism and positivity it’s very nuanced, thorough, and spiritually fulfilling. I hope I can find a new way to break this cycle and find others to help lift me up since I am living a very miserable life
🩵🫂
Your situation is very similar to mine. I hope you’re ok and still holding on.
U will find what you yearn for… whether u like it or not.
I am not just an optimist, I am an absurdist, knowing I can change the things I can control, and I can accept I could influence actions I don't have control over. More people should read Camus, as once we accept the absurd, the things beyond our control, we can take charge of the things we can control. Happy to hear you too are a radical optimist.
any recommendations texts by him?
@@Juantidote The Myth of Sisyphus is his most famous work, I read a few of the essays from his essayanthology (i need to read more of them, they're on my backlog). It is a difficult read, specially the first essay being literally about unaliving but it is an uplifting read once it all kicks in.
If you're really bad at literary criticism and philosophy, is there a "dummies guide to Absurdism" out there?
I feel that philosophy people don't realise how good they are at parsing these books; to mere mortals like me they're like a different language (e.g. Deleuze & Guattari or Maria Lugones)
@@LowestofheDeadgenerally, 2 things, if something seems contradictory to the author’s point it’s usually absurdism or irony. If something seems contradictory yet integral to the author’s point, that’s something to be criticized
@@LowestofheDeadalso Tales From Absurdia, The Beginners Guide to Absurdism is a decent website to learn this from
I found my own version of this sometime early last year and coined it as "Nihilistic Optimism"
The idea that because nothing matters, why be bothered by so much. it helped ground me in reality and accept the world I was in and how it changes around me.
I somehow ended up in what I'd call a state of mania, barely a care in the world and going about my day as if nothing was wrong, all the while not even thinking.
It was both levitating and concerning that I could experience such a thing, but it works for me.
looool I commented something similar, trust that the future will be and likely will be ok, is the only way to maintain hope
fyi, this is the official ideology of the science channel kurzgesagt (in a nutshell). They made a video about optimistic nihilism a few years back :)
Okay, I don't want to be that guy... but nihilist philosophy has become a recent weird fascination for me, so apologies for the mild info dump.
In short, that's just what nihilism is *supposed to be*. When Nietzsche coined the term and outlined the philosophical groundwork of nihilism, he was doing so largely out of an anti-church lens. His idea was, in short, "nothing really matters."
The problem is that alot of people saw that and assumed that was the intended end state. That that was the point of enlightenment, but it's not. Because Nietzsche intended for Nihilism to be a transitional.
It was meant to be a step you take. To accept that there is no God, and therefore nothing holding you to some arbitrary standard. It frees you, so that you can move onto a more optimistic, and helpful worldview. "Nothing matters... so I can decide for myself what does."
(Also, side note. If you ever decide to read Nietzsche, be aware that while he was not a Nazi, his sister was a big supporter of the regime.
When he died, pretty much all of his manuscripts, which were not published, went to her. She published them, but not before giving them a Nazi-themed tilt. So be wary of that.)
So, in short, this is just a mildly pretentious way of saying, what you're describing is just big-N Nihilism.
You didn't coin it, kurzgesagt did lmfao
@@SnoFitzroy that's fair, I forgot kurzgesagt did a video on it years ago, rewatched it and it still holds up.
Me saying I coined it was just my best way of explaining what I called the mindset, not realising it was already in use.
Revolutionary optimism goes hard. Stay strong comrade.
optimism is one of the hardest perspectives to stick to. but the past few months have shown me that it is indeed the only choice. thank you for this well timed video
Thank you for this!!! So many of the circles I'm in with similar politics are extremely doomer and nihilistic to the point it's bad for my mental health and it leads me to not wanting to take action for anything so I'm grateful for the content you put out.
Exactly. There are so many people of all ages always saying the phrase "We are doomed." and I can't help but hate it not because I disagree, but because it gives off the vibe that everything that is the way it is right now is completely and permanently hopeless. It goes from "We as a collection of people are doomed" to "We as human beings around the world, flesh and blood, are doomed." and I find it illogical. The more people say "We are doomed." the more it will get into everyone's head that we are helpless and that there is no changing that, turning into an ugly self fulfilling prophecy of self destruction and misery.
However, beautifully, there are a lot of people who share this same sentiment of hope and are sick of the doom and gloom. This period of everything decaying ranging from movies being bad, music being boring, holidays and videogames not feeling the same means that a breakthrough is right around the corner. "Doomers" are slowly building hope and will become "bloomers" when enough hope puts people to action, and it is not a waiting game, but a race against oneself.
Thing is - this behaviour in left wing circles isn't new. Freire, in the same essay Elliot mentioned, goes out on a leg and criticizes it in the premise: he calls this behaviour "left wing sectarism" (i haven't read it in english so I don't know if the translation is correct). Unlike right wing sectarians, that wish that the future will never come in a constant repetition of the present and the current forms of oppression, the left wing sectarians fall into dehumanizing fanatism. Like Elliot brilliantly exposed, this form of sectarism is irrational, to the point of fanatism and reactionary thought, and reality becomes impossible to change.
I would argue that the left wing sectarians could be easily seducted by right wing ideologies: I've seen authors like Nick Land sometimes being quoted in some anarchist/ancomm or even communist niches, by people who claim to be leftists (and i'm taking trolls/weird 4chan psyops out of the equation for the sake of argument). Nick Land is the textbook definition of a doomerist reactionary. Accelerationism is a laughable idea if you still believe at least a little bit in radical hope and humanization - but still a guy that is much closer to Evola than he is to Gramsci gets his spotlight because he feeds into the idea that doom is unavoidable.
Haven't even watched yet but the first "YOU WILL BE OKAY. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE" feels a whole lot like Omori
Same thoughts haha
the game? I love that game! ⬜️ I wanna reenact the worst ending so badly
@@mokie7421 so you want to be in ur mind forever?
Almost thought Id forgotten a scene from the game haha
pessimist of intellect, optimist of will ❤
My man, ive been doing well this last year, lost 100 pounds (slowly and safely), and got my head right for the first time. But this holiday i just got so overwhelmed and have heen in a rutt again for the last month. This video was exactly what the doctor ordered though. Sometimes it doesnt take a lot to make you feel better, but this video is just what i needed to hear when i needed to hear it.
Thank you brother. New fan of the channel, keep up the good work.
Hopelessness leads to silence and conformity, while hope connects us with the real world and inspire us to fight for its improvement.
Sincerely I've seen few videos that share knowledge and wisdom so rich like yours. I can't thank you enough for being a difference in today's world. I appreciate your efforts.
something that keeps me going and hopeful amidst all the oppression in the world is the fact that knowledge is extremely powerful. there are violent governments trying to kill off the knowledge that i have. sharing it can change the world.
Regenerative Agriculture gave me my hope back. Seeing that our environmental problems are solved with easy steps really helped. We can do this ❤
Ah cool that u mentioned it!
@@ash3972 i understand your pain, but especially with this situation, these things are (fittingly) just inevitably going to be implemented :)
With the work of John Kempf and alike there can be a great framework for farmers. If the solutions are as easy as they are and the people that communicate it efficiently, then we are here to watch this all unfold before our eyes :)
Born too late to see Metallica when they were good, born too early to upload our minds onto the mighty cloud, but at least we can watch that, i guess
What the hell did i even write, i should go sleep
@@markus_selloidid you just comment to yourself
@@jonharrison3114 i wrote the main comment after watching a few minutes, and when he talked about regen ag i commented that other thinge, whats the prob
@@jonharrison3114 did you just comment to comment that
i already know this is about to be one of my favorite videos of yours. i don't think a lot of people realize the importance of spreading form of hope in times where it's easy to go online and consume gloom and doom, and then feel crushed into feeling like there is no other way out. freedom is a constant struggle but there can be light during those struggles
Hope is the necessary and unjustified belief that tomorrow will be better than today. Hope is also a self-fulfilling prophecy
The poem at the beginning was beautiful.
revolution is a faith based practice and humans if nothing else are creatures of faith. seeing what isn't there and acting to make it so as if it is already there gives us the hope to turn wheels of change. in the grand scheme of things we may only have made bad choices, this may in fact be the worst timeline, but we will always have the ability to course correct for the better.
Surviving the worst timeline is the greatest achievement in the multiverse. Keep at it.
I’m not a fan of “ominous positivity” even going back to the first memes. It seems to me that it accepts the premise that you have no agency, merely attempting to co-opt it into a positive message.
It’s a message that I’ve been told my whole life…that I will be ok and succeed because I don’t have any other option. And yet, it seems painfully obvious to me that this isn’t true. Things can get so much worse, and there are hordes of people willing to manifest that for personal gain. The hope that I cling to is the faith that things will be tangibly better for the people that come after me. That I can do my small part to make it so.
And even that is rather difficult for me to hold on to. So many so-called leftists hold a very centrist bias against political action, even when people are fighting for their very survival. For me, the creeping hopelessness that I’ve been trying to push back is the sense that I am alone. That change is impossible not because the hurdles are insurmountable, but because not enough people are willing to struggle in the attempt…to suffer for the sake of communal benefit.
"Struggle for community benefit" that's the problem: everyone is suffering enough. Nobody wants more struggle.
If anything, reframe that. Positive choices and positive do not need to be a struggle, they can be enjoyable. They can be done with community, or to result in something that benefits you, and not just "those who come after".
Ex: eating better. It helps the Earth and the animals to go vegan, and it helps you to. It's a struggle if you approach it from a lackful mindset (what you're "not allowed" to eat anymore) vs an abundant mindset (all the new foods and recipes you'll get to try, how much better you'll feel, the animals you didn't kill, ect)
The problem with a lot of striving for positive change is that it's viewed from the perspective of what you're losing, vs what you're gaining. Maybe you want to lose weight, but if you focus on how much you hate the gym and avoid even thinking about it, you miss the opportunity to make it joyful. Join a dance class or roller derby or jump rope or swim.
Change doesn't have to be painful, it can be joyful. Nobody wants to struggle, but "struggling" and doing hard things is concidered virtuous and is valued by current society.
Challenge that. Instead of looking at what society deems "beautiful" and then looking at yourself and feeling not good enough by comparison, look at your ancestors. Look at all the people that loved before you and had lives and cultures before you. Did you know that it's common for people from hotter regions to have bigger noses, because it helps regulate the temprature of the breath and cool it down? Likewise, it's common for people of colder climates to have smaller noses, because it helps warm the air? Look at yourself not through the lense of modern beauty, because trends will change, but through the eyes of history. Not the kind that's written, but the kind that built your bones.
From that perspective, loving how you look is not about the struggle of hating yourself and battling with beauty standards, but about the ability to stop so far outside of that perspective that "beauty" isn't judged at all, and becomes more of an observation.
It can be like that with all things. Building a better future can be joyous, and ironically, it's also a requirement. In a society that values work and productivity, rebel is not outdoing everyone else. It's having a set of values that's so completely different that instead of falling into hustle culture, you embrace slow living instead. Change is not just large actions and protests, it is also choosing to live your daily life differently. It's drinking tea and watching the birds outside instead of doom scrolling on your phone. It's sharing a piece of fruit. It's exercising because you like to climb trees and hula hoop, and not because you hate yourself. That's not to stay it will always be easy, but if you are always struggling, what's the point? Perhaps change is not exclusively in the struggle, but in the absence of it in a world that normalizes it.
I don't even need to know about all the oppression of this world, I am suffering in my own miserable existence.
Everything else just adds on top of it. Now, to watch the video to the end.
"this too shall pass" is my favorite quote and encompasses this idea i think
I have difficulty memorising things so I really appreciate the simple, concise sentiment of "hopelessness= the belief that change is impossible which is factually incorrect"
thank you❤
Haven't watched the video yet but still wanted to leave a note.
Though I can't really ever tell myself things are just inevitably "going to be alright" just like I can't ever tell myself things are inevitably just "going to be horrible". Whenever I find myself thinking about this, especially when I feel like there's no hope and my entire life will just be suffering, be it for personal struggles or societal problems, I just ask myself
"So what?
I'm not gonna k1ll myself, neither will I just sulk in bed and die. So, my only option is to do my best and keep on living."
That helps a bit
I veer between the belief that it's all fucked and that it's never too late to change. Thank you for appealing to both.
for me it's become a sort of like, something WILL give, this CANNOT last, but think about what we could attempt to create as a result of this end? Which obviously can be argued against and I get that totally. But I think the idea that so many people want us to create a better world for ourselves keeps me going in my actions
This video explains a simplistic statement i make, "In the end, it'll be ok. If it's not ok then it's not over so you have more to do"
omg I didn't realize there was a term to describe the way I've been feeling - positive and optimistic about the future while acknowledging how shitty things are for so many people at the moment, because the only other choice is stagnation & death which I refuse to accept anymore.
Hi. First of all, WOW! I've been following your content for a while and have enjoyed a lot of it, but this video really really really struck a chord. For the past two years, as part of my job as a labor researcher, I've helped in organizing workers and community members in campaigns, educational programs, etc., and I've only just started to uncover how deep the work really is. Especially with left-leaning young people like myself, I see so much to be proud of, but also a lot that we have to work towards and a lot of challenges to overcome. Just getting folks to consistently show up to meetings and form community is hard enough, let alone coming to together to strategize and plan an action. I feel very strongly about being a part of a movement that starts to cut away the pessimism, individualism and loneliness we confront on a daily basis, and this video just makes me feel stronger about that. Thanks for doing all that you do! La lucha sigue!
You set the vibe of 2024 with this video
"Those are lies." Love it when Elliot is direct 💜
no choice? wrong. removing oneself from the equation is indeed a choice
I really appreciate this video, Elliot. Sometimes staying positive is the best way to go. However, not in a toxic positivity way. That’s the issue with some people. They go in the toxic positivity route to cope with life to the point that they lie about how they’re truly feeling. This is why I recommend people to find things that make them feel better whenever they’re feeling bad.
“Ominous positivity” can be a starting point. Maybe I can use this method one day🧠
much love julian
!! yesss one piece inspired me to believe life is worth fighting for, not in the abstract, but as a whole - because my life is not separated from other life generally, it’s a part of it and there is no “other” :)
mine is "nothing lasts forever". when things are shit it will eventually end - and you can look forward to that and this helps you endure the experience. when things are good it will eventually end - and since you know this you can notice and fully appreciate this while it's happening.
the fact that im anxious about the future at all means that i have a life good enough to fear its end and thats nice :3
“Why, given life, are they meant to suffer. To die...
As fragmented, imperfect beings, yours is a never-ending quest.
A quest to find your purpose, knowing your end is assured.
To find the strength to continue, when all strength has left you.
To find joy, even as darkness descends...
...And amidst deepest despair, light everlasting.”
- Final Fantasy XIV, Endwalker
I was wondering why reading this it sounded familiar to me lol but I wouldn't put Endwalker, its started since A Realm Reborn the whole intro song is beautiful
@@semekiizuio this is a specific scene in Endwalker!
@@Madison-ur2qn it is I am aware just saying it started way back from the beginning being a Realm Reborn
For 4 months I was in strength and conditioning in my school. My campus is broken up into 4-5 sections with the main building being on top of a large hill. The weight room, My strength and conditioning class, was on the very bottom of that hill. For 4 months everyday I was at school without fail I walked there and back. I only once got a ride. Wasn't easy either. I'm a fairly unathletic 5'3 220 lb guy, it was painful and in the first month I was basically hyperventilating once I got to the top of the hill. What kept me walking up that hill after straining my body for 2 hours was the thought that once I got to the top I could rest, The even if I was out of breath once I got there once I got to class I would be okay. Yeah I'm limping to the front of the school a sweaty hyperventilating mess but I knew 5 minutes later I'd be okay. I'd be standing on the side of that hill reminding myself that walking up that hill wouldn't be forever. I wouldn't even have to keep doing it forever either. It's next semester now and I've moved out of that class with no plan to return because honestly I am the teacher don't see eye to eye on some crucial things but I do find myself missing that hill in the benefits I got because for 4 months I walked up the steepest Hill at my school.
I sobbed through this whole video. I needed this... SO. Badly.
a takeaway from the pandemic was how at the start of the lockdowns, to me you could literally feel life grind to a halt. Life stopped as we held our breath, wondering what to do with this worldwide threat. But if life could stop as it did, then that means it had been previously moving before. For sometime to stop it had to be in motion or going on. And you could feel how life's gears were slowly turning, even though we all stopped.
It was then that i really saw life as being alive. It's alive and it moves forward, forever marching on.
Since then i decided that if I'm alive, if there's life within me, that i will march forward to. Life will be hard, tough, challenging. But like life, I will continue on too.
I think I've always had that attitude, as the child of immigrants to have that tenacity. But i really made it my own during the pandemic.
I wouldn't call it optimism per say, but I'll be damned if I don't persevere and live the life my parents raised and guided me to live 🙌
after several bouts of SI i came to this sort of logic, like theres no guarentee that the afterlife will be better or that reincarnation isnt real, i see no point in gambling with my fate, so i resigned to be a warrior, to live for the challenges of life, to be inspired and driven by pain
fun fact: I ve taken an interest in pirate stories since 2020 after reading this opening line in an journal "It is argued that pirates used Democracy as their source of power was violence and oppression and through this criminal form of Democracy maintained order. This is misleading - for what was property or the divine right of Kings to rule, if not products of violence and oppression? "
I just realized how cynical and selfish I've become, in that, for a while, I've been seeing this kind of hope, this ominous positivity, as something natural, something necessary, something inevitable. But only when it pertains to myself. I have this feeling I can achieve almost anything I dare to, learn anything I want, be as happy as I want, and whenever that is not the case, I can rest in the hope that the future will change and will bring new things... for me... But, for the rest of the world, for the oppressed, the unfortunate... I don't know what to think, and so I decide better not to think about them at all, even if they are at my doorstep. To be clear, this is just a metaphor; I've donated to some charities, listened to many who needed to be listened, but in the end, the system remains the same... What does it matter that people in power change so long as there is a power position at all? I don't want the oppressed to become oppressors (and I've known many cases like that). But at the same time, the more isolated I get, the more I focus on myself, the more silent I become, I know rationally it only makes things worse and worse...
I know these few words also won't fix anything, and they are not intended to do so. I only want to say that this video has helped me understand that my hopelessness about the world is as unjustified as the hopelessness towards myself, and I thank you for that. Because, for a long time, I've been content lying to myself, believing silence is just better, to let things go its own way, but I cannot take it anymore. Small as it may be, I have a voice, and I want to use it to bring hope, true hope, hope in humanity, in ourselves and our power and drive to make things better.
Thank you.
As I opened RUclips today I was crushed between the uncertainty and unfulfillment of my latest expectations I put on myself and the world. I cannot believe that somehow I have stumbled upon his topic no other day but today. Thank you for the Enlightenment Elliot, your thoughts will surely stay with me, engaging a new perspective I needed in my life:)
Really liked the way you discussed this topic. I never heard the term "Ominous Positivity" before but thanks to you and this video it has really helped me understand what I can do to help myself and others and to keep my hopes up and know that everything will be okay. Thank you and I can't wait for your next video! It's awesome seeing you grow as a RUclipsr!
Omninus positivity huh. Yeah I've been doing that for a while without knowing it was called that. I was speaking to my brother once and I said "we're going to die. That is a fact. Nothing we can do to change that absolute"
So instead of freaking out over something we have absolutely no control over, we should focus on what we can control. What we can influence. What type of influence we can leave behind.
Honestly won't lie, Superman has been a big inspiration in this department for me. How being good to others can inspire others to be good, that even if it hurts, or seems impossible. If there's hope, there's a chance to help the hopeless or if not inspire it in others.
I love love love this video. Thank you so much for sharing and I agree that hope is a necessity 💖
I really appreciated the drawings in this one, thanks a lot to whoever did them!
2023 was a strange year for me. My extended existential crisis turned me towards meditation and eastern philosophies (after already being interested in existentialist topics in past years). Now I'm starting out the new year with a whole new perspective on everything. Life is truly a mystery. Most people take reality for granted. They don't question this condition too deeply. This is what it feels like to be a human being in 2024. Isn't that strange? Here we all are, sharing this time and space together. Yet apart, as different perspectives. Why is there a body? Why is there a sensation of there being self? Why is there anything at all?
This video came at an appropriate time too. These last couple weeks it has felt like everything I've been struggling with over the past year is finally reaching some level of stability. It becomes increasingly clear that neither the concept of "free will" nor "no free will" is sufficient to explain this condition we are all experiencing.
I started this journey seeing myself as something of a truth seeker. Trusting only in my own direct experience. No system of beliefs. The truth cannot be found in knowledge, etc. When Camus discussed the philosophical "leap of faith", I resonated with the idea that a truth seeker does not settle for anything that relies on blind faith. Yet at some level what choice do we have? Not one of us knows the future. The choices I make are ultimately as mysterious to me as the choices anyone else makes.
I get a feeling of hope. The universe must be on my side. Everything is happening all on its own, but fully realizing that may involve some difficult experiences. Ultimately everything will be okay. Choice has nothing to do with it.
The world is waking up. It's mostly considered niche and esoteric right now, but I believe some kind of global spiritual awakening will be one of the defining movements of the 21st century. (I would've thought this sounds nuts one year ago). On the timeline of humanity we are still so juvenile. There is so much global trauma, although there appears to be a trend towards global wisdom. It's going to be quite a show to see how these esoteric ideas will be discussed when they enter the mainstream culture in a more direct way.
There is a mystery to life beyond what the conscious mind is capable of understanding. Something strange is happening. Can't you feel it?
Yes. Yes I can. In my body and mind. As well as looking back retroactively I can see the signs. I don't believe everyone was shown at the same time. I found out after some people and then I was locked up for a few days and didn't believe for about 10 months until it started again. Whatever this power is is allowing me to feel hope after putting me through my own hell for a while. I do not know what category I would place it in as far as good or evil. Among other things, I was driving to work and a man punched a woman in the eye and left her on the side of the road. He was convinced she had stolen something. Since all of our internal storylines are set up this was not his or her choice and I believe this applies to all the bad, neutral, and good things. Or that is what they want me to think. What has been your experience?
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence. And I learn whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."
- Hellen Keller
i heard this from a gabor mate video recently, he said it was from a rabbi 3000 years ago, but he said "the task of bringing light to the world will never be finished, but that doesn't mean you can refuse to pick up the task"
i came to listen for background noise and left earnestly engaged and convinced that i will be okay
as a buddhist i was pleasantly surprised with how well you explained no-self, i feel like this helped the concept to really click with me. it's not often i finish a youtube video feeling like i got hit with a full anime training arc
I don't disagree with any of the usefulness in this video but i also find it powerful to recognise that we should give up hope to live fully in the present moment, the only moment that we have
Hope is a verb. Hope is work. Hope is a duty for those who enact it to maintain for those who have lost it that they may some day pick it up once more. From afar, it can guide us. To hold it burns. Can you withstand the pain of truly holding on to hope, or do you delude yourself into thinking you can't?
My prison abolitionist friends like to say "hope is a discipline."
this is exactly how I've gotten thru my entire life just with science and quotes. its not toxic positivity, tho i have had many try to tell me, its the know that there is change. there is a future. youre allowed to be upset and mad and in the moment. youre still human and have feelings. you just have to wait for or accept the change. this is what I've been trying to tell people my whole life just put together into one thought line. thank you. i will now link this video as needed
It's okay to be hopeless or hopeful as long as you don't cling or obsess.
That is what makes sense to me for now.
This put into words my own philosophy and thinking on the best way to live life for myself. To reduce suffering in myself. I enjoy being optimistic at the same time that I’m aware of the state if our society. It has treated me well.
Been going though a fucking lot both in my family and in my country recently, but I still had this feeling of being positive for no reason whatsoever. Maybe ominous positivity was the term I was looking for, lol.
I find not only solace but also hope in my despair. I think (and thankfully) because of the fact that I know that it will end. While I definitely implore more marginalized folks who made be neck deep in depression to join forces with more optimists, I refuse to let the oppressors take away my ability to grieve, to yell, to claw, to gnash my teeth, or to feel hollow. I protest the psuedo-happy culture of this imperial-economy society with my grief. Though I will say again, I surround myself with folks who are happy and who care for me and I for them. I live in moments where an ideal future can exist even if outside my door is much tougher. I don’t need to be ‘visually productive’ to make a change. Sorrow, anguish, and even depression can have merit. To emote is to be human. And I want to live in a world that allows me & others to experience these fluctuations fluidly and safely.
I can’t tell you how much I needed this video. Thank you for your wisdom and for taking the time to put this together ❤️
I’ve already reached this state of mind I just didn’t know how to describe it but I used to be way too optimistic and that nearly killed me bc I’m the end I got despair and that only ripped my own sense of hope entirely. Now that I’m healing I’m keeping my expectations low and live by the moment for my future is in the hands of whatever society decides to do for the next 20 plus years
I didn't need this now, but I know I will some day, and so will my friends and family. Thank you for making it. I'll keep it in the back of my head so that I have it ready when a time comes.
No matter how hard the world gets bad, I have a dream to make light to others around me, beckuse I give light to myself! through that.. thank you this beautiful!!
I have worked a lot at taking these self help ideologies and fitting them into revolutionary thought. It was a form of transmutation in itself but it was possible, despite what other comrades tend to believe. Ominous positivity is the most obvious but it does help to survive. It is just like how you need hope or willpower in a survival scenario.
I think a bunch of us needed this video. It's hard to push through here in America when we were set up with expectations that fell through.. I want to have my own space but you're right I will eventually get it. I desire it so I will keep persisting
I’ve had this mindset for years and years, I’m glad people are starting to understand it! Things have to work out. It always has and always will.
You don’t understand how badly I needed this video. Thank you.
Wow, i really needed to hear this.
It brings me back to October or November, I remember a post from a woman whose mother is in Gaza. Her mom encouraged her to finish her law degree. The daughter couldn’t believe her mom was encouraging her to live her life fully, rather than to stand still or pursue a ceasefire. The daughter said, basically, “Now I have no excuse but to keep moving forward.”
I need to be in a hopeful headspace because what I’ve been doing so far is not sustainable, nor helpful to myself or others.
I’m going to meditate on what you said for the rest of today. Thank you for sharing this. 💙💙
This video is balm for the soul. This type of work, all the good work everyone is doing, big or small, slow or fast, are steps to a better world. And that is beautiful.
Not even 10 minutes in and this is already one of the best and most necessary things I've heard in a while. Thank you for the depth and wisdom in all your videos.
Thank you so much for posting this! I just started a new job as a legislative aide. I'm super nervous, but I really want to change the world so that people can live happier lives. Your channel gives me inspiration.
yep, hope is a matter of practicality for me. how can I, someone living in the imperial core, feel hopeless when i've barely done all the possible things to make my corner of the world a little better? i can still rally my neighbours to use native plants in their gardening to increase biodiversity. i can use my knowledge and experience in the food industry to volunteer for food not bombs, i can get better at education people about how logging is destroying our ecosystems in ontario so that we can better organize to find stop it. there's just so many ways to organize.
despair is not for me to have when i have a roof over my head and access to 3 square meals a day. there's always something to do
I just recently found this channel and I absolutely love it. Thanks for existing
Cannot put into words how needed this was right now. Thank you
Ive really taken to watching your content to help fight my inner self loathing and hate, thank you for this video.
For my mental health, this has been the most helpful thing I've heard in a while. Thank you, Elliot
The part that resonated with me the most was "If I sound overfly hopeful, you'll have to forgive me. I can't think of a more rational way to live". Like, there is no other option than to be hopeful. Thank you, that one's going to keep me going for a while.
As long as I've been miserable, this video holds no ground for me.
Well damn! I can’t deny you hit the nail with this one! There’s so much truth behind this and it makes a lot of sense thank you for sharing.
this might be one of my favorite videos ever. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this I think your perspective is really great
"This too shal pass" I love that sentiment
Although I dissagree that this sentiment is hope somehow.
Hey Elliot, chilean subscriber here. Do you speak spanish?
Now in Chile there's a collective feeling of hopelessness, new year eve felt kinda depressing. Reality shows and misinformation on mass media now reign supreme, it seems all the efforts to change Pinochet's constitution went to waste. It's really hard to shake that feeling if you're left-leaning , a member of the lgbt+ community or both (like i am).
At the end of the constitutional process, a misterious sculpture of Chile in the shape of an ouroboros appeared in the main avenue, made by an anonymous artist. It really captured how these last 5 + 30 years have felt. There's a tiny part of me that doesn't really want to surrender to that feeling, and this video really put into words why.
Something that was pointed out to me recently, which ironically has kept me sane lately, is this notion.
How many people throughout recorded history, and even long before, night after night cried themselves to sleep (or did something much worse) with the utmost certainty that the world was ending? Now, how many of those people were correct?
It reminds me of the final scene of The Mist. I won't spoil it, so iykyk.
I think that fits pretty well as Ominous Positivity.
i love Roberto Bolaño!! that was an amazing way to start the video my goodness
This video and the message made me cry, thank you for this.
11:01 the "um" and cut killed me bc at the same time i forgot what you were talking about and started thinking about hydraulic presses and bike handlebars like I've got adhd or something lol
You might be in the midst of a crisis at this very moment.
When you blink, it'll be long gone.
That was an absolutely beautiful way to describe a view I've been struggling to cultivate and articulate for a couple years now. I like that quote from John Green that says "despair is a simple story. But I don't think any simple story tells the whole story, so all hail complexity". This is a viewpoint I've seen you represent not only in this video, but in all of the videos I've seen from you. It's refreshing, fascinating, and comforting. Our world is so so complicated. It's bad and it's good and it's neither and it's both. It will get worse, and it will get better, and a lot of the time things will happen which we could've never predicted. Hope is revolutionary, and yet hope is merely acceptance of the inevitable fact that nature is in flux, and that permanence is an illusion. What helps me is reminding myself that everything we do to make it better makes it better, and everything we do to make it worse makes it worse. This applies to so many of our modern problems. There is no fated doomsday point like we see in the movies. There's just choices. We have to keep making the right ones as they come. That's the work. Great video!
Coming back to this video again and again. Thank youu
YES - I resonate. The best weapon the powerful have is to kill our hope. They wouldn't need to use that weapon if we weren't actually so powerful that it scared them. Without hope, we deny our power. Remember that we are much more powerful than we realize.
I haven't quite had language for it, but this ominously optimistic attitude is very much in line with how I get by. This is why when medical providers ran out of ways to help me, I knew that there were treatments - I just hadn't found them. So I kept looking until I eventually did. Similarly, there are different ways we can exist as a species. We just haven't figured out how to implement them yet. It doesn't mean we can't or won't. Let's have faith in our potential.