On a day weighed down by doom and gloom, I recall discovering these lines: “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” It’s far too easy for me to focus on the darkness and challenges I face. Then I read a quote like this one and have to pause for a moment because the author was facing a kind of darkness I have never known. These words are inscribed in The Diary of Anne Frank. It is a humbling realization, given they come from a young girl grappling with the weight of the world on her innocent shoulders. Where was her mind in that darkness? It was pointing out to the light. The Diary of Anne Frank, along with many other books, movies, and stories, make us feel something. What is it that they inspire within us? Emotion.

In his book, Contagious:…