Preface:

I have not fully come to terms with the nature or scope of the change that has gripped me. I do know that it coincided with becoming a Brony and that it has grown since I became openly Brony with my friends and family. I cannot tell if the change was triggered by the act of becoming a Brony or if it simply allowed me to be more receptive to the idea of Bronyhood.

In any case...

Cynicism:

I am weary unto death of cynicism masquerading as enlightenment. I find no value in casting everyone I meet in the light of the villain. If everyone was this devoid of virtue, I would be surrounded by abject anarchy; by desolation. Yet I live in a land of great bounty - and that includes the human factor. There are people all around me that want nothing more than to fill their lives with happiness. Who am I to judge them so harshly? Who am I to strain their actions though the sieve of the cynic?

One obvious rejoinder at this point would be to underscore that some people prey upon one another and that cynicism is a defense against such acts. This is bunk. To reject cynicism is not to welcome, with open arms, every stranger into your home or every strange idea into your thoughts; straw man me not in this. I will not leave myself defenseless, I simply refuse to assume treachery. I refuse to expect villainy.

Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned:

The value of peace. I cannot speak for anyone outside of myself but, for me, being a cynic stole my peace. As a cynic, I saw each person as an obstacle or an adversary. In retrospect, I wonder how many friends I've lost by never beginning the friendship in the first place. I wonder how many chances at love have slipped past. I wonder how many opportunities for joy I have left behind, never explored. All because I insisted that I knew that the person beside me was heinous and empty.

I was once a cynic and it seems I was once a hypocrite too.