#91- Lost and Found

It was one of those moments that was full of what I would like to dub the Sad Clown Phenomenon. I had had an amazing day, going out for lunch, a trip to the museum, and now a $2 dollar comedy with my girlfriend and had all the reason in the world to be loving life. And yet I was very, very sad. That's because, in my sheer stupidity, I had left my beloved J-school hoodie somewhere in the mall and was convinced that I would never see it again.

I managed to forget about it and enjoy the movie, but was still sad enough to refuse candy from my girlfriend, a sure sign that the Sad Clown Phenomenon hadn't totally relinquished its grip. After the movie, however, I started to slip back into it until my girlfriend, a true optimist in her perseverance and determination, told me I should look in the mall's lost and found.

I, being full of Sad Clown, still despaired. Of course it wouldn't be there, no one would have turned in my sweater, it was probably being eaten by a pack of Ottawa's infamous hungry groundhogs by now.

Long story short, it was there and I had my sweater back and wore it, draw strings pulled tight for added security, all the way home in the summer heat.

And today I am forever indebted to Lost and Found boxes everywhere.

They are themselves a great thing, a chance to reclaim lost objects of significance and trivial appeal alike. But they are much more than that. They are a symbol of hope, a last bastion of promise and optimism that relief will come; that you will find what is important to you.

It is also an assurance that humans are indeed inherently good creatures. Lost and Founds are a sign that people will do the right thing and want, deep in their hearts and minds, for people to be happy even if they don't know that person and will get nothing, not even a thank you or a look of joy, in return for their good deed.

So I am grateful for the Lost and Found. I am grateful that they are always there, like a network of kindness and hope and human decency and selflessness, when you need it most. And I am grateful that it helped remind me that these things exist in the world and rose me up and out of the pessimism I had given into and back to seeing life like a glass half full.