Friends, I have moved my newsletter onto Substack. Nothing has to change for you if you don’t want it to. You will continue to receive these newsletters in your email. However, you will now have the option to leave comments directly on my Substack. You can also upgrade to a paid subscription to support my work. For now, I am keeping all my posts visible for everyone while I see how this goes. Many thanks as ever for your support.
Thinking about optimism right now. I don't mean naïveté, ignorance or burying our heads in the sand. I mean: optimism. Is it inherently fragile? Or can it offer a deep source of power?
I looked it up and found this:
noun
A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation.
The doctrine, asserted by Leibniz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
The belief that the universe is improving and that good will ultimately triumph over evil.
There is SO much to fear.
There are bottomless wells of grief.
But there's also a lot to DO, no?
Action: to me, this is where optimism is a friend. Optimism + compassion + disciplined action. This is the formula I am working with right now. Or maybe what I’m talking about is faith. Not religious faith, per se, but…faith in the universe (?) I feel like a squeaky child suggesting this. I can hear every cool kid and intellectual in my past snarking at me. But I still like the idea of faith in the universe. In fact, I absolutely need it to keep going.
Here’s a song I wrote in 2013, called Learning Faith, about needing to have faith whether I liked it or not.
Feb. 3rd Winston-Salem
I have a crush on Winston-Salem. There, I said it. Every time I go there, I meet innovative, creative people who are making things happen. And they want me to be part of it. Makes me giddy. Join me Saturday February 3rd at Gas Hill Drinking Room. I'll be joined by Russell Kelly on guitar and special guest Sarah Sophia!
Optimism and faith can feel lonely. I feel a deep need to dream and to take steps towards those dreams. I don’t understand how to do that without optimism. But fuck, if it isn’t a lonely road sometimes. I’m just over here smiling about being alive on this dark path to oblivion!
I’m not trying to be flippant. I know how privileged my life is, and I know it’s a privilege to sit here and ponder philosophies. I also know that every positive change in history started with a person or group of people believing something better was possible.
Feb 18th Austin
I’ll join my friend Jenny Reynolds for a Sunday afternoon house concert 2/18 in Austin. Suggested donation $35, less for fellow artists.
It’s not that I can’t understand pessimism. Surrounded by war, genocide, climate change, erosion of our civil rights, why in God’s name wouldn’t we all commit to pessimism?
But …I also feel like some people who could be making a positive difference choose instead to dig their heels into pessimism out of fear, no matter how good their life is.
Midwest in March
I actually see optimism as a practical choice. If I have a choice, ultimately, about where I put my energy and my thoughts, I’m always going to go with the thing that gives me energy back. Because life is short. I’d rather die feeling alive and ridiculous and saying fuck you to those in power who want me to give up.
I need optimism to move towards what I believe in - gender and racial justice, peace, the right to exist and express myself as an artist.
Just some thoughts from this Aquarian weirdo.
April 4th Boston
Join me at the beloved Club Passim Thursday April 4th! Boston gave me my start and it always feels like a musical homecoming to return. Jenny Reynolds opens. Tickets available to Passim members 1/11 and to the public 1/18.
Are you an optimist? A secret optimist? Only on the weekends? Let me know below.
Thank you for joining me here on Substack. It’s an experiment!
Let me know how you like it.
xo
Jess
TLDR - Upcoming Shows
2/3 Gas Hill Drinking Room, Winston-Salem, NC
2/18 Casa DB’s House Concert, Austin, TX w/Jenny Reynolds - email for reservations
3/6 On the Tracks, Chelsea, MI
3/8. Molly’s House Concerts, Lincolnwood, IL - email for reservations
3/9. Henry House Concert, Pacific, MO - email for reservations
3/10. Compass Listening Room, Columbia, MO
3/23 Live at Ted’s, Wilmington, NC
4/4. Club Passim, Boston, MA - member tickets on sale 1/11. General public tickets on sale 1/18
4/7. Rosie’s Cafe, Brick, NJ - email for reservations
4/9. The Bitter End, New York City
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