I should have gone to SXSW years ago. It was so cool to meet so many people from such huge successful web projects, people who have really been responsible for so much of what the internet is today.
It almost freaked me out how many of them totally remember Blue Blood in print and talked to me about how important they felt it was. I think I had sort of let myself fall into a mindset like maybe, if there were people who wanted to take credit for my accomplishments, then maybe nothing I have ever done really mattered much. It felt so good to have so many amazing people I respect so much tell me how happy they are that I am still creating, only online now.
Halcyon was a totally kickass tour guide and, as always, I find he improves my optimism. Fundamentally, I enjoy being a good person and, when people use that to try to chump me, it really makes me question everything I believe in. It was really nice for me and Forrest to get to hang out with Halcyon and Tassy and talk about not letting go of your own principles just because sometimes other people suck. Tassy totally rocks too. Halcyon told me his theory of optimism tax which I've been repeating under my breath like a little mantra. Optimism tax is the cost, the pain and loss of resources, which one experiences from time to time for believing the best about people and the world and occasionally having people and the world suck instead of being as good as you believed.
I'm going to fight where I need to, but I'm going to keep in mind that it is better to pay my optimism tax from time to time, if it means that I get to believe in good things on the front end. Other people can prove to me that I should have had less faith in them, but I'll let them do the job of being rotten downers and I'm going to look for the glass to be half full until shown otherwise.
