I used to be a professional cynic. In the newsroom, being “jaded” was a mark of experience. We’d seen every political scandal, every celebrity meltdown, and every “groundbreaking” invention. We prided ourselves on never being surprised. But here is the problem with being a critic: When you spend all your time looking for what’s wrong, you lose the ability to see what’s right. We’ve become a culture of “nitpickers,” more interested in finding the one flaw in a masterpiece than in feeling the awe of the work itself. 1. The “Mid” Epidemic The most common word I hear these days to describe everything from Oscar-winning films to five-star meals is…