A friend posted this article (“Positive thinking” has turned happiness into a duty and a burden, says a Danish psychologist) to her page the other day and I find it important. You may have noticed that, of late, I have begun pushing back against this concept of "I will be a better person tomorrow than I was today." And against the idea that we must label normal behaviors - such as resting and reading and taking hot showers - as "self-care." Why do we need to make them so important? I know the theory is that we are giving people caught up in the culture of "busy" permission to slow down. But I don't think that's what it accomplishes. I rather think we are cementing our culture of "virtuous living." Which just puts MORE pressure on a person, not less. And which might just could let us avoid looking at actual virtue because we can say...hey! I took a bath today!
It's not that I don't understand that taking a bath can be a major triumph in a person's life. It can be. It's not that I don't understand the power of positive thinking. I do. And I believe that life-long growth is an amazingly important aspect to a healthy and happy life. It is.
But I have begun to FEEL the dark side of this culture. And I don't like it one bit. So I have started championing AVERAGE. While continuing to support authenticity of expression.
We take ourselves so very seriously. And that comes with a lot of pressure. That drives so much ego. And neither of those tends to foster HAPPINESS.
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