color me rose.

just a quote, today.

the world is this way, we wish the world were that way, and our experience of the world---how we see it, remember it, and imagine it---is a mixture of stark reality and comforting illusion. we can't spare either. if we were to experience the world exactly as it is, we'd be too depressed to get out of bed in the morning, but if we were to experience the world exactly as we want it to be, we'd be to deluded to find our slippers. we may see the world through rose-colored glasses, but rose-colored glasses are neither opaque nor clear. they can't be opaque because we need to see the world clearly enough to participate in it---to pilot helicopters, harvest corn, diaper babies, and all the other stuff that smart mammals need to do in order to survive and thrive. but they can't be clear because we need their rosy tint to motivate us to design the helicopters ("i'm sure this thing will fly"), plant the corn ("this year will be a banner crop"), and tolerate the babies ("what a bundle of joy!"). we cannot do without reality and we cannot do without illusion. each serves a purpose, each imposes a limit on the influence of the other, and our experience of the world is the artful compromise that these tough competitors negotiate. (stumbling on happiness, daniel gilbert)