Monument to the Eternal Optimist
Caroline Conway
Ireland
Or maybe it is a monument to hope, conviction, self-belief, and ingenuity
Optimism can be the belief that good must ultimately prevail over evil in the universe, or the optimist can be the person who takes comfort in the small changes for good amid a wider situation of concern. He may be about to fall from the sky, but there is a beautiful rainbow. The optimist believes that things will work out, often against the odds.
I chose images of balloons as Birr Castle has been host to the Irish Hot air Ballooning Championships for the past few years. The balloons ascend from the demesne, bridging the town/ castle divide, free for everyone to marvel at as they silently glide across the sky. They represent an optimism. We have faith and trust the crews that they will rise and land safely and so are freed to passively enjoy the spectacle
The text is from “Progress in Flying Machines” 1894, by the French-born aviation pioneer Octave Chanute in which he analyzed virtually every flight experiment up to that time, explained their flaws and the principals with most hope for success.
We need optimism but it is not enough just to hope. We need critical and creative thinking to navigate the world and create conditions for positive change. We need to be able to decipher our own truths and trust in the systems behind them. We need to understand what is holding us up and what are the foundations that we stand on.
It is not enough to be a passive optimist. To be human we must be brave.
Caroline Conway
Ireland
Or maybe it is a monument to hope, conviction, self-belief, and ingenuity
Optimism can be the belief that good must ultimately prevail over evil in the universe, or the optimist can be the person who takes comfort in the small changes for good amid a wider situation of concern. He may be about to fall from the sky, but there is a beautiful rainbow. The optimist believes that things will work out, often against the odds.
I chose images of balloons as Birr Castle has been host to the Irish Hot air Ballooning Championships for the past few years. The balloons ascend from the demesne, bridging the town/ castle divide, free for everyone to marvel at as they silently glide across the sky. They represent an optimism. We have faith and trust the crews that they will rise and land safely and so are freed to passively enjoy the spectacle
The text is from “Progress in Flying Machines” 1894, by the French-born aviation pioneer Octave Chanute in which he analyzed virtually every flight experiment up to that time, explained their flaws and the principals with most hope for success.
We need optimism but it is not enough just to hope. We need critical and creative thinking to navigate the world and create conditions for positive change. We need to be able to decipher our own truths and trust in the systems behind them. We need to understand what is holding us up and what are the foundations that we stand on.
It is not enough to be a passive optimist. To be human we must be brave.