Toxic Positivity
At my own pace
- Feb 11, 2022
- 95
I am not an ideologue, but merely a normie trying to get by. Hopefully this observation will be felt as helpful, which is how it is intended.
Some of the angriest, most bitter exchanges I see online, and much of the sadness I see in-person, comes from a sense of helplessness in the face of what is vogue to talk about these days, which is how capitalism sucks.
When that anger, sadness, despair or helplessness is disconnected from any real solution or even intent to act, it seems to quickly devolve or decompose into an overall outlook on life that magnifies the difficulties & pain while minimizing the admittedly rare (at least for me) moments of goodness, human connection and feelings of worth/feeling alive.
My completely unsolicited advice to anyone whom this resonates with, if you are willing, is to interrogate the stories you are telling yourself, interrogate the stories others are telling you (from any ideological bent) to decide for yourself whether what you're hearing is actionable, life-affirming, positive, constructive, or merely venting---which, of course, is necessary, too.
A good heuristic for me is that, when someone's rhetoric is dark, hopeless, and identifies/magnifies a problem without counterbalancing that darkness with something to do and look forward to that is empowering, meaningful and constructive, I am better-off not engaging with that rhetoric and ensuring I don't add more negativity to the mind I must take care of and am responsible for---mine.
Some of the angriest, most bitter exchanges I see online, and much of the sadness I see in-person, comes from a sense of helplessness in the face of what is vogue to talk about these days, which is how capitalism sucks.
When that anger, sadness, despair or helplessness is disconnected from any real solution or even intent to act, it seems to quickly devolve or decompose into an overall outlook on life that magnifies the difficulties & pain while minimizing the admittedly rare (at least for me) moments of goodness, human connection and feelings of worth/feeling alive.
My completely unsolicited advice to anyone whom this resonates with, if you are willing, is to interrogate the stories you are telling yourself, interrogate the stories others are telling you (from any ideological bent) to decide for yourself whether what you're hearing is actionable, life-affirming, positive, constructive, or merely venting---which, of course, is necessary, too.
A good heuristic for me is that, when someone's rhetoric is dark, hopeless, and identifies/magnifies a problem without counterbalancing that darkness with something to do and look forward to that is empowering, meaningful and constructive, I am better-off not engaging with that rhetoric and ensuring I don't add more negativity to the mind I must take care of and am responsible for---mine.
