Over the last twenty years there's been an increasing amount among New Age and / or conspiracy theorist types about positivity. I have recently realised that all the emoting that goes on between women in the Whatsapp groups is a similar sort of idea. You have to all of this fuzzy emoting and give off the right vibe in what you say, to be "in" with the group. Otherwise you're a potential threat. This realisation was a blow. To me, words mean things. You say something and the idea is it has, it carries meaning,: ideas or plans move forward. And so it is in the whatsapp groups, but the meaning of the words is at a sort of remove. They say things but what it really means is "group hug", or I'm in with you guys. Or Whatever you say, I just want to stay in.
A document was put into one of these groups recently for review. It had conceptual errors, category errors, it was naive, muddled, it had ideological leaning, was unrealistic, and quite heavily biased. It was a mess and some of this must have been obvious to some of the people in the group. But the comments put forward were
"I feel very excited/positive abput it. Im now ready and willing to go forward to the next step. X"
"Feel excited but with support and calmness"
"getting ready to go forward to the next step.feeling positive x"
The author felt "more connected and supported already".
No doubt! I felt ill. I really thought I was in an insane world. Either the reviewers must be lying or they must be foolish. And then I realised neither of those were the point. They were "aligning", maybe because no-one wanted to take responsibility for doing anything, never mind improving.
This is the kind of "positivity" I find highly suspect. There are similar versions all of the socials which don't just airbrush reality but diminish other realities and wipe out or diminish other people's truths. It's a concoction of arrogance, domination and manipulation framed as positivity. The Buddhist / Taoist version of positivity as exemplified in the current admirable US Walk for Peace is far more attractive. It's seductive and I do think compassion, calmness, mindfulness are excellent guidelines for life. What bothers me is the way these have been hijacked by all and sundry to suggest these and related ideas can "heal" you. For starters, many ancient idea don't start with a premise of being "broken", which is such a commodifiable concept. Often if is one more of disharmony or misalignment as a common experience of life. Besides, I doubt any professional would advocate mere positive thinking is an antidote for horrifying experiences.
One of the monks lost his leg in an accident on the walk. Some idiot in a pickup truck tried to overtake the escort vehicle, hit it and that in turn ploughed into the monks. The poor monk, extraordinarily, is viewing his lost limb as an "offering" to the walk.
What other option, really, does he have?
One of the monks lost his leg in an accident on the walk. Some idiot in a pickup truck tried to overtake the escort vehicle, hit it and that in turn ploughed into the monks. The poor monk, extraordinarily, is viewing his lost limb as an "offering" to the walk.
What other option, really, does he have?
