My takeaway from 2008 and the economy, is that there are no experts anymore. The Wall Street year over year no longer applies.
I know a number of designers and others impacted already by the ‘downturn’, or feel that they are on the ‘brink’.
As far as optimistic, the key is to keep the forward view. Whatever industry you are in, the origins of the next ‘paradigm’ are within this transformational time. GE started during the panic of 1873, Disney started during the recession of 1923-24, HP began during the Great Depression, and even Microsoft was founded during the recession of 1975. The next GEneration may already be on Core77.
I focus on learning as learning can be the root of happiness (even if your broke as hell)
Makes me happy to learn something new over the long cold boring holidays leading to recession.
Somehow learning new things keeps me optimistic which is the keyword.
This quarter
i have been boxing
Pro/CABLE for routing wires cables and harness through assemblies
Wiring diagram software called RSD
Next quarter is unclear
sketching more on a Cintiq that i don’t own yet
and building a new track bike from parts I find on Craigslist < track day road racing is great for recession because there are less people on the race track 
I’m super excited about the future. I think that the recession has rattled Americans and forced us to live more sustainable, less consumer-obsessed lifestyles. This is DEFINITELY a good thing.
My first major design project at my current job was redesigning the entire product line, which launched in October. We’ve had our best sales months and quarter since. Sales records in a recession? Unheard of! (that’s the power of design, IMHO).
Personally, I’m hoping that things continue to go well and that our company can weather this storm. We create super high-quality products, so people are still willing to shell out the cash for the good stuff. It’s the low-cost, crappy products that are suffering. I wouldn’t design that type of product anyway : )
If sh*t hits the fan and I lose my job, I don’t see it being the end of the world. I was unemployed once before, and did an awful lot of rollerskating and cartwheeling…