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Happy ANZAC Day everyone! I am humbly reminded each year that ANZAC Day is my birthday. It sucks getting older, that's for sure. And after the last 2 years I have pretty much zero orientation to where I live anymore. Who loves birthdays? I truly loathe these days, and thank goodness it's only once a year! But the great thing about having a birthday on ANZAC Day is that you are reminded that a bunch of people died long before their time was due. They died for freedom, usually at the expense of some greedy bastards. A noble death. It is humbling to remember this on my birthday - Anyhow, hope you all have a good day, and tip of the hat to all those who have fought, as well as those who have protested against the stupidity that is war.

The last two years have been a slog. And, yet, I feel like it is time to start to the turn the pages over. I have gone through highs and lows over the last six months. It's been a bumpy ride. But now I'm starting to thinking can we find the optimism somewhere? What is optimistic about the future? Where can we draw optimism from? Optimism, for me, is something that we use to console ourselves in hard times. Many optimists want to pretend or to gloss over reality. That's not really how I see it. It's more a necessity, otherwise, we'd all drive ourselves crazy and mad. When in doubt, I dig up some quotes: “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.”― Alphonse Karr, A Tour Round My Garden “The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray While the last 2 years have been very challenging, it’s been a great time of self learning and that’s a bit of a gift. I hope you all are starting to feel a bit better. It may take time. But I'm sure good things will come out of all the trouble. Or at least we'll appreciate the good things a little more. Have a lovely weekend. In Peace and Parallel, DB Here's the Forum to Discuss this Daily Rant