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Orange is Optimism
221 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 2, 2017
I've been an instagram follower of Kit's for a while now, her photos are stunning and words are just so beautifully sewn together. I always get excited when a new photo pops up on my feed, I want to see what she has to say, to devour her words.
When I saw she was publishing a book, I rushed straight to her website and preordered it. It has not disappointed!
She shares stories from her explorations, weaving across the US, bringing to life places and ideas most of us just take at face value.
J.R.'s photos that accompany Kit's words are just as beautiful, full of color and life and adventure.
I just love this book!
When I saw she was publishing a book, I rushed straight to her website and preordered it. It has not disappointed!
She shares stories from her explorations, weaving across the US, bringing to life places and ideas most of us just take at face value.
J.R.'s photos that accompany Kit's words are just as beautiful, full of color and life and adventure.
I just love this book!
March 20, 2025
AN OPTIMIST IS THE MOST RADICAL THING YOU CAN BE.
"MAGIC
bursts from
EVERY CORNER
of reality"
"GREAT
possibilities
often
APPEAR
impossible"
"if it scares you
it's probably
worth doing"
"WHEN YOU
BECOME ON
THE OUTSIDE
THE WAY YOU
SEE YOURSELF
INSIDE
YOU ARE
TRULY FREE"
"only optimists
have the guts to follow
the pretty visions
in their minds."
"FREEDOM
is the ability to accept
insecurity"
THE FOUR FREEDOMS
as articulated by Franklin D. Roosevelt
1) Freedom of Speech
2) Freedom of Worship
3) Freedom from Want
4) Freedom from Fear
"why not
wake each bright
new morning
so sizzling
with the fat of life
that you crackle
and burn
and almost explode
with the
big and small things
that make life
miraculous"
"selfies are deadly"
"Optimism is
HOPE
that sees
POTENTIAL
in the
impossible"
"when I look out my window
I see a beautiful world"
"In those holy waters, I understood. Life's a miracle that lasts only a moment, and because of that, you should always go swimming. Always, always."
"My work ethic is to limit work."
"Everything fades.
Life is transient.
It's tragic.
But you know what?
It's also why
The world is
so heartbreakingly
beautiful"
"They say you have to work hard to get what you want. Lies! All of them! We bums don't have to live in fear of so-called poverty. We don't have much money, sure, but money isn't real anyways. Look at all of THIS! This is what's real. The best things in life are free, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in TRUE poverty."
"If you stay out of news and politics, you'll find many reasons to be an optimist."
"The survival
of the SOUL
depends on an
unrelenting
QUEST
for an
undiminished
LIFE"
"J.R. and I have no heat in the bus, because we hold firm to the conviction that discomfort is a crucial component of joyful living. Today's society is generally an overinsulated place, and we escape that. Sometimes that means we suffer. Mostly it means that when our five-gallon water bottle starts freezing solid, we really should scoot south."
"I knew I'd never see those particular snowflakes fall again, and I knew the magic of the morning would dissipate soon. How miraculous it was to be sitting there at all. Sometimes I can't breathe in deeply enough. I want to inhale the world into my lungs. Sometimes every moment is so meaningful I could cry.
"If life isn't a broken mirror glued together by paradox, I don't know what it is."
"Wild horses galloped across the expanse of the land, and I almost cried watching them, knowing I was a human and they were horses and what was the difference between us anyway."
"Time became an accessory to everything evil. At one point, I saved the Great MacGuffin from a near death. He went to look at his wristwatch, and just in time, I slapped him across the face. What was wrong with him? Was he a fool? Didn't he know the face of that watch would inject him with venom if he wasn't careful?"
"Here's something only a bum could tell you. Once you follow the laws of Optimism, once you focus on the beautiful abundance all around you, you become the most radical radical there is. And happy to boot."
Best book alive
"MAGIC
bursts from
EVERY CORNER
of reality"
"GREAT
possibilities
often
APPEAR
impossible"
"if it scares you
it's probably
worth doing"
"WHEN YOU
BECOME ON
THE OUTSIDE
THE WAY YOU
SEE YOURSELF
INSIDE
YOU ARE
TRULY FREE"
"only optimists
have the guts to follow
the pretty visions
in their minds."
"FREEDOM
is the ability to accept
insecurity"
THE FOUR FREEDOMS
as articulated by Franklin D. Roosevelt
1) Freedom of Speech
2) Freedom of Worship
3) Freedom from Want
4) Freedom from Fear
"why not
wake each bright
new morning
so sizzling
with the fat of life
that you crackle
and burn
and almost explode
with the
big and small things
that make life
miraculous"
"selfies are deadly"
"Optimism is
HOPE
that sees
POTENTIAL
in the
impossible"
"when I look out my window
I see a beautiful world"
"In those holy waters, I understood. Life's a miracle that lasts only a moment, and because of that, you should always go swimming. Always, always."
"My work ethic is to limit work."
"Everything fades.
Life is transient.
It's tragic.
But you know what?
It's also why
The world is
so heartbreakingly
beautiful"
"They say you have to work hard to get what you want. Lies! All of them! We bums don't have to live in fear of so-called poverty. We don't have much money, sure, but money isn't real anyways. Look at all of THIS! This is what's real. The best things in life are free, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in TRUE poverty."
"If you stay out of news and politics, you'll find many reasons to be an optimist."
"The survival
of the SOUL
depends on an
unrelenting
QUEST
for an
undiminished
LIFE"
"J.R. and I have no heat in the bus, because we hold firm to the conviction that discomfort is a crucial component of joyful living. Today's society is generally an overinsulated place, and we escape that. Sometimes that means we suffer. Mostly it means that when our five-gallon water bottle starts freezing solid, we really should scoot south."
"I knew I'd never see those particular snowflakes fall again, and I knew the magic of the morning would dissipate soon. How miraculous it was to be sitting there at all. Sometimes I can't breathe in deeply enough. I want to inhale the world into my lungs. Sometimes every moment is so meaningful I could cry.
"If life isn't a broken mirror glued together by paradox, I don't know what it is."
"Wild horses galloped across the expanse of the land, and I almost cried watching them, knowing I was a human and they were horses and what was the difference between us anyway."
"Time became an accessory to everything evil. At one point, I saved the Great MacGuffin from a near death. He went to look at his wristwatch, and just in time, I slapped him across the face. What was wrong with him? Was he a fool? Didn't he know the face of that watch would inject him with venom if he wasn't careful?"
"Here's something only a bum could tell you. Once you follow the laws of Optimism, once you focus on the beautiful abundance all around you, you become the most radical radical there is. And happy to boot."
Best book alive
February 17, 2023
This book is the epitome of magical thinking. I’m very blessed to have read a copy that was annotated by Kit herself. J.R's photos + Kit's illustrations bring the book to life while each story takes you along on their adventures with Sunshine.
There's a sense of surrealism to this book that I enjoyed, particularly with the personification of abstract concepts like Sanity, Insanity, Freedom, America, Optimism and Pessimism, and how they all became characters of their own.
I had fun receiving this glimpse into a life of idleness + adventure and hope to bring every philosophy of this book into my own life. Thank you Kit and J.R.!
🧡
~ An Optimist Is The Most Radical Thing You Can Be ~
There's a sense of surrealism to this book that I enjoyed, particularly with the personification of abstract concepts like Sanity, Insanity, Freedom, America, Optimism and Pessimism, and how they all became characters of their own.
I had fun receiving this glimpse into a life of idleness + adventure and hope to bring every philosophy of this book into my own life. Thank you Kit and J.R.!
🧡
~ An Optimist Is The Most Radical Thing You Can Be ~
June 3, 2021
The book is enjoyable enough....but the author is PRETENTIOUS.
I don’t think she entirely realized how she was coming off. At times she came off as down to earth and relatable but then in the next moment she would be saying things that clearly were meant to stroke her ego.
Worth the read...but be ready.
I don’t think she entirely realized how she was coming off. At times she came off as down to earth and relatable but then in the next moment she would be saying things that clearly were meant to stroke her ego.
Worth the read...but be ready.
October 13, 2021
I found the book somewhat idealistic and simple, fun, preachy at times, inspiring at times, pretentious in its deliberate non-pretentious way, and all around easy to read. Bottom line is I've enjoyed following Kit's adventures on IG and seeing them in the Vanlife documentary (can't remember exact title) and reading her philosophy of life was good. Look forward to seeing how she continues to evolve over the years.
April 16, 2023
We are giving our niece this book as part of her graduation gift, and I started flipping through the book and then found myself reading the whole thing in just a few days! I’ve been following Kit & J.R. since we met them at a Van Life event in 2018, and Kit really has an inspiring way with words. If you want to spark a dream of the roaming hippie life in someone, this is a great book for that!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews