I have been working on what I think is a very interesting blog post addressing our cultures use of the term negative. In particular, I am looking at how it has been utilized by people who want to avoid exercising compassion when people are suffering and need them most, as in, I need to distance myself from negativity. I am connecting this with Americas Cult of Positivity, which Barbara Ehrenreich has written about, and spoken brilliantly on, in recent years. While an optimistic or realistic attitude is one thing, actively avoiding people who are suffering is another thing all together. Corporate culture has really fed and breed this approach. Ehrenreich is able to show how employees who expressed concern about the subprime mortgage structure at Countrywide were fired for being negative. (And then look at what happened to our economy.) I have also seen the term negative used by abusers (and their apaths*) within families to put down and attempt to silence dissenters. This is especially true if dissenters speak up against apathy, violence, and abuse. This is part of a little something that I call Truth Shaming. Oh, youre so negative. is often said. It can become far more exaggerated than that but I will leave it there. The truth often hurts... and so does growth, but that certainly doesnt mean it is negative or should be avoided. People who avoid so-called negativity and avoid opportunities to exercise compassion (compassion literally means to suffer with.) miss out on tremendous opportunities for growth and developing depth as human beings. Not only that--they often become superficial and morally callous without even being self aware enough to know it. SO much more to say about this in coming weeks...
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 06:29:31 +0000
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