On optimism

I am not a born optimist. I was not a dour child, but I think there was always an air of suspicion about me, as though I was never quite sure when the other shoe was going to drop. I was afraid of the dark, for a good long time, well past a reasonable age, and I still can’t let my foot hang over the side of my bed at night.

I’m still never really sure if everything is, as they say, going to be alright. I would love to couch this on intellectualism, but I think it’s more of a combination of pes...