My Instagram feed has been blowing up recently with all kinds of spiritual and mental health posts, which honestly has been a blessing because 2020 is the year of internal struggle and devastating experiences.
So, what the fuck is “toxic positivity”? Well my dear weirdos, let me fill you in on this mysterious yet common state of mind. Picture this: that ridiculous cartoon gif of the happy dog drinking a beverage while in a chair as his room is burning in flames; his carefree, blunt expression and a caption that reads “this is fine”. Toxic positivity is defined in my crass terms as sitting in your pile of shit, but ignoring said-shit and pretending that despite all your physical, emotional, and spiritual pain- that you are A-OKAY and should just “stay positive”. This hit’s home because frankly, I myself have adopted this view on many occasions as well as most of the people in my life (sorry guys).
Most people who know me well, know that my glass is always half full, and I owe everyone an apology for the shit advice I’ve given that has absolutely stemmed from my deranged toxic positivity. There is a deeper note that needs to be touched on here, though. I think we’ve subconsciously incorporated this into our psyche out of the trauma we’ve dealt with over the years and especially this year too. In part, it’s not our fault for being emotionally delicate creatures. Nature seemed to have designed us to be fragile in a plethora of ways, which is at odds with the reality of life and of our world. Our sensory perception of life itself is drastically reduced due to how our brains function. From radiowaves to telekinses (humor me, please), we block a lot of information on a conscious level. What’s that study, that we’re only utilizing 2% of our brain power? Don’t quote me on that, but I think we’ve all heard about this. I’m also not a scientist, but a Manic Writer. My point being is that we’ve literally been built on a physical level to only take what we “need”. So naturally with our consciousness, we’ve adopted mechanisms to deal with the overload of life. Some of which, don’t actually make our lives easier to handle. They can be- ahem, TOXIC.
If you’ve read this to find some inkling as to how to change this perspective, I’m sorry. I don’t have the answer, and I think the answers people share are just their own perception of how to recalibrate oneself to see reality for what it is. Everyone is on their own journey. Sometimes listening to ourselves is a bad idea, sometimes it’s good. Either way, just stay mindful. Keep yourself open to learning and adapting. Life is tumultuous, shitty and beautiful all at once.
Stay weird, stay manic!
- The Manic Blogger