November, man. Was that a month, or what?

Donald Trump won the white house. Leonard Cohen died. We learned we’ve been subsisting on “fake news” (no wonder we’re starving). Alberta lost another 13,000 jobs pushing unemployment to numbers not seen since 1994. Then, without irony, the Oxford Dictionary chose as it’s 2016 Word of the Year post-truth.

These are post-truth times, baby!

Under the lead veil of all that, the warm, comfy waters of cynicism look pretty damn inviting, don’t they?

Yes, yes they do.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines cynicism as: “…a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions…” In a variation on a theme, Merriam Webster defines it as “contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives; (to be cynical is to be) a faultfinding, captious critic.”

Whoo-hoo! Right? I mean, cynics unite and come party on down at my place, because what sounds like more fun than that?

Grab a drink, sit back and chillax in the 'ol cynics’ hot tub where we can run commentary and reign intellectually superior over our big, old stupid world. Ahhh yes. That’s better…

Everywhere you look, ruthless self-interest is king, manipulation and mendacity lead the way and what the hell difference does any of it make, anyway? The wrong guys will always have the power, there’s nothing to be done about it and life sucks.

Yeah, about that…

Not to burst your unhappiness bubble, but we’ve been going to hell in a handcart since time immemorial. No, it’s not worse now, actually. It’s just different. Our handcart may be modernized and the trees on the landscape bigger, but it’s a familiar and well-worn road to perdition.

Cynicism tears things down. But demolition is easy; effortless even. I know when you see the world doing an end-run around all things good and right for all things selfish and mean, that hope and optimism are hard. Except I would argue the world only looks like that because your vision is narrowed to only take in what fits. Cynicism needs to justify itself.

I’m reminded of a story I heard years ago about a woman with acute agoraphobia. Terrified to leave her apartment, she had groceries and medications delivered and spent her days watching daytime talk shows and the news. Every day, for months, she’d watch Maury, Geraldo, Sally Jessy Raphael, Jerry Springer, MSNBC, CNN…

Everything she took into her consciousness was about what was wrong with people and society. She ate liars, cheaters and serial killers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For her, the world was a scary, hopeless and crappy place to be, and how could it be anything else? There was nothing she allowed in to help moderate or reframe this reality.

Cynicism is a choice. It isn’t a forgone conclusion and you aren’t somehow smarter because you think so. We feed – or starve - the choices we make.

We choose and create our world view, and given the choices – the world is on an unstoppable and relentless downward spiral/full of beauty and goodness, the world is a troubled place we can make better – where would you rather live?

Children are utterly free of cynicism. For them, life is open-hearted, ever expanding and fuelled by possibility. Who among us doesn't want this for themselves?

I solo parent two 5 year olds, and for their sake – not to mention my own - I can’t afford to be hopeless. I can’t afford to believe that we can’t make a difference; that people and systems can’t be better; that the world and those in it are good despite the obvious shit in all of it.

And please: there can’t not be shit! It’s part of the natural - and healthy! -  cycle of every living thing and humanity as an organism is no exception. Even when you feed your body only the cleanest, best ingredients, all wheatgrass and pumpkin seeds, you will still produce shit! Not only that, but if you don’t create it, you die.

Balance, as they say, in all things.

The bad in the world does not negate the good. Because one exists doesn’t mean the other does not.

It is a radical and courageous act in the face of Brexit, Trump, fake news, post-truth, rising unemployment, disappearing heroes and the 20 pounds you can’t lose no-matter- what-you-do, to trust in something better.

To be clear, I’m no Pollyanna, Kumbaya, the world runs on dandelion fluff and rainbows kind of girl. I’ve lived on the dark side and am intimate with the bottom half of the glass. But it’s possible, even essential, to be critical and be hopeful. Yes, at the same time. Our lives, our hearts and our humanity depends on it.

When everything sucks, curiosity, creativity and ambition naturally fall by the wayside. Imagination is sapped; there are no solutions because it doesn’t matter anyway. As George Bernard Shaw said, the cynic is a man defeated. He’s lost courage. He’s beaten. All that bitterness and hopelessness masquerading as some kind of superior intelligence.

Newsflash: Intelligence and idealism are not mutually exclusive.

I like Isaac Asimov’s perspective that it’s important to believe people are good even if they tend to be bad - because your own joy and happiness depends on it.

When you succumb to cynicism, it’s impossible to even enjoy the good things. You belief in the preeminance of corporate interests, personal greed and the imbalanced power structure forever casting a long, black shadow over what's now. An “us versus them” mentality distorts reality, denying the full 360 view of life in favour of what justifies your prevailing view.

It’s the saddest way to live. Curmudgeons aren’t funny; they’re tragic. And lonely.

Personally, I’m unwilling to sacrifice my inner preschooler who, despite all evidence to the contrary, still believes in the powers of love and joy; potential and transformation.

Maria Popova writes beautifully on this point:

Strive to be uncynical, to be a hope-giving force, to be a steward of substance. Choose to lift people up, not to lower them down — because it is a choice, always, and because in doing so you lift yourself up.  

Don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively, in yourself and in those you love.

In these post-truth times there are few things more difficult than living with sincere, active and constructive hope for the human spirit. Yet our humanity, our salvation, depends on it. Resist those warm, cynical waters.

Self-interest, criticism, lying and cheating prevail when we mistake them for the norm. There is so much goodness in the world. All we have to do is look for it, remind one another of it, show up for it, and refuse to leave.