The Persistence of Hope

I met a man yesterday who tells me that he wrote songs with a famous Pop Diva. They have a secret arrangement that no one knows about. He also wrote some of the dialogue for a well-known war movie of recent vintage. Very interesting, to be sure. But neither of these things happened. It is a fixed delusion.  Then I spoke with a woman today who many years ago wrote a book about bereavement.  She has now made contact with a literary agent many states away. This women is certain that acclaim and wealth are inevitable now.  She spoke of winning the Nobel Prize. Her book is available on Amazon. It currently ranks about 12 millionth in sales. Why does anyone dare think that greatness has alighted upon them? What is the source of such audacity? I once read a quote along the lines of "The greater the talent, the greater the doubt." Perhaps there is something in that.  Every child swimming on a Saturday afternoon in front of  a somnolent gathering of grandparents is bound for the Olympics. We all cling to the notion that we are just one break away from our great genius being made patent for the world to behold. All of us are wrong. None of us is great. But the hope persists. Why?