Wishful idealism, youthful optimism, and a rose-tinted romanticism of the world is a somewhat necessary precondition for ambition, dreams, and ways of life. However, when these ideals get tested in the crucible of reality, the space for naivete is very limited. Oftentimes, there is a rite of passage, with maturity and age, whereby an individual or a collective may abandon a past, perhaps more innocent outlook, in exchange for a more realistic one. That being said, sometimes this realism, if not properly tempered, can produce a type of jaded complacency that can spiral into loneliness, despair, or detachment. The rise of social media, new pandemic variants, and endeavours that tread further and further beyond familiar terrains put our ideas and ideals to the test and ask us to consider and reconsider our realities in the context of
both hope and rationality.