Our Daughter at 1 © Jay Goodrich

My wife Heather sent me a text message a little earlier today stating that she was sad. To which I replied asking, “why?”. I then received a laundry list of items that were on her mind. This list contained the typical things that bother almost any person on this planet regardless of career, lifestyle, or monetary worth – money, job status, family members, etc. This of course led to me immediately calling her.

I am not always the positive cheerleader, I have many a dark artist day as well. However, I tend to be very positive when others are completely down. Searching deep into a very untapped well, not really, but tapped only in time of need. I told Heather that some of the things on her list were completely uncontrollable. If they did indeed happen, there was nothing to do but ride the coaster and see where it took us. Some of the things could be controlled, with some really good drugs and alcohol. And, the remainder, had other people’s pain involved, pain that we have been through, so it wouldn’t be hard to guide them to a positive ending.

This whole conversation got me thinking about the rest of the United States. If my wife, who is one of the most positive humans on this earth can become sad right now, how bad are the countless others? Or all of the people in Haiti? Is 2012 really going to happen? This all led me to thinking about those super remote tribes in the Amazon. Have they changed because the U.S. is in a recession? Probably not. They may have been changed by the ever increasing climate issue that the whole planet is contributing to though. This then lead me to the realization that maybe we are all truly connected by six degrees of separation. And if we are in fact connected, does that mean by some miracle a good deed generated by me could help some person 20,000 miles away, who I have not met or may never meet?

As I was driving home from the gym and our phone conversation ended, I passed my sign. I looked to the side of the highway and there was this simple, giant, white billboard with only the words “Optimism is Contagious” written on it. If that was not a sign, I don’t know what would be.

So that is my message to everyone who has read anything that I have ever written. OPTIMISM IS CONTAGIOUS. Act and think optimistically, because you never know, that person 20,000 miles from you, whom you have never met and may never meet, could get a huge dose of optimism from you.

Snow Covered Trees, Vail Backcountry © Jay Goodrich

We are proud to announce that Jay is now writing for Singh-Ray Filters. He has been using their products for almost two decades, so he is extremely excited to begin sharing images, stories, and how-to articles about their usage on the Singh-Ray blog site.

Sunset over Grasses, Gypsum, Colorado © Jay Goodrich

Guy Tal is a very talented landscape photographer and writer living in Utah. He has a post on his web journal site entitled “Stack the Odds in Your Favor” that everyone, not only photographers, should read. All of us need to discover the good that this planet has to offer and utilize it to keep our lives moving forward…in a positive way.