Optimism, the delusional kind
Winter of 2020. Me and a bunch of my friends signed up for this hackathon. Our first one. Mainly because the logo looked cool. We had no technical idea or any business taking part in it. We shouldn't even have qualified the prelims. We ended up finishing top 4.
It was the most fun I have had taking part in anything. I remember I was yapping in the group chat about how "I will accept nothing less than full ownership of the company as my prize." That was the vibe. We were meming. Laughing. And going full tilt, saying the most delusional stuff. Delusional to an outsider maybe. But we believed it. Everyone did, for a moment at least.
I have always been an optimist. It just gets you farther in life. Makes you happier. More willing to take risks. But I was always cautious. A rational optimist, I would say. The hackathon experience changed me.
Optimism will take you places, but delusional optimism will make the ride so much more fun. Balls to the wall, riding in a clown car, smashing all records kind of fun.
But you can only experience this with a few people who you trust enough to be you and are a bit cracked as well. I cannot act like that in my corporate job. I am professional Kartikay there.
Yet, I can't help but think there must be teams of people, maybe even old friends, who are working together building something crazy against all odds. Having the time of their lives. An extended version of that hackathon. If you are one of those lucky few reading this, I tip my hat to you, good ser. Hold on to this.