Unfortunately, nothing is easier than taking advantage of our yearning for wholeness in order to commercialize our desire, a desire that is driven by our quest for the Thing through various objects that appear to contain the objet a. It is easy to craft situations where we chase one enticing object of desire after another because these objects seem to be taking us closer to our goal of regaining the plenitude that we imagine having once possessed. In this scenario, we hope that just around the corner lies in wait an object that will finally offer us definite satisfaction only to find ourselves perpetually disappointed. This is a perfect example of . . . cruel optimism: we pursue objects that we hope will redeem us but that in the end elude us—thereby causing us to waste precious resources on a mission that will never pay off—and therefore ultimately function as an impediment to our flourishing.
Mari Ruti, “When the Cure Is that There Is No Cure: Melancholia, Mourning, Creativity”
