Optimism

I think about the graphic novel, V for Vendetta, a lot. I mean a lot. I’m due for a re-read here soon, I’m sure. There’s a corrupt, fascist government institituting a police state and there’s the resistance against it organized by V and Evey. In the course of the story, Evey discovers that there’s a letter tucked away in a cubby in her prison cell (Yes, I’m skipping a lot of parts! Read it and we can chat over coffee.) In it, the author of the letter, Valerie, writes:

I shall die here. Every last inch of me shall perish. Except one.

An inch. It’s small and it’s fragile and it’s the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.

From V for Vendetta
Written by Alan Moore.
Art by David Lloyd.

I think we might define that inch a little differently from person to person, but at its essence it’s the core of our humanity, our integrity, our wish that the future is a little better than the world we were born into, that in our darkest hour, when everything feels like a black hole, there’s that little bit of light that keeps us moving forward. This is the inch that chooses “to be” over “not to be.” And it is our legacy. Ultimately, I believe it is our capacity to love. To me, that is the core of optimism and I am thankful for it.