When did life become so needy? Why the deluge of positive affirmations? If the Athena poster store had been around today, amongst the imagery of the guy holding a baby and tennis player scratching her butt … they would’ve had a picture and positive affirmation for EVERYTHING.
When did the sudden need for a positive affirmation creep into our lives? Why do we have to abide by those words? Do I need to believe I’ve had a life less lived because I have never ‘danced in the rain’, a life based on the words of someone who isn’t the Dalai Lama?
It seems as though a positive affirmation is as much a part of our lives as the fat friend who always comments that you are ‘too skinny’, the girls who wear their hair in a bun so big that it looks as though they are trying to smuggle a dog bowl, or as oft sighted as an estate agent in a quilted Barbour jacket.
Like them or loathe them, they are very much a part of our current, everyday existence.
I will hold my hands up; I accept that I am guilty of divulging too much time with pointless thoughts: ‘Do unicorns exist? ‘If I put white wine into a soda stream, will it make champagne?’ ‘Can I lick my elbow?’ ‘What happened to the Blue Peter Dog when I last watched aged 13?’ We’re all guilty, but this is where idle thoughts can be misled into a breeding ground of marketing and self-importance.
Affirmations share a tenuous link with social taboos… ‘Go crazy, who cares if you dance in the street, in the rain, without a brolly’. Well, I love a proper taboo… the word itself is something that should only be uttered as a hushed whisper from an uptight, middle aged woman in sensible shoes and a fleece… Or a dodgy drink best left in 1986. But, what exactly is a taboo? In my mind, a taboo is a fallacy, a made up word created by another person’s thoughts and ideals. Bullshit, in other words. There are of course things that step beyond a taboo and these are just quite frankly wrong and we all know those boundaries. For some, a taboo is wearing 4 inch heels on the school run, for others, it is a deepest darkest thought known by only oneself.
One thing that struck me as a current taboo was, the trending of #MasculinitySoFragile exposing the many aspects of what it is to be and to be perceived to be as a man. So many tweets expose the flip side of the coin; ones that stand out in particular are the arguments that a man can’t hug another male without adding ‘No homo’. To me that’s just as ridiculous as hugging my Father and saying ‘No Oedipus’. Is this because you feel that expressing signs of affection to someone of the same sex is a taboo?
There is also the sad fact that this hashtag was created in the first place… there’s nothing positive to carry here. So why do we seek positivity? Are we so incapable of dealing with 2K15 that we need to commit our lives to hashtags and random statements in order to analyse ourselves?
I have to admit, there are a couple of posts I found throughout my research that carried something that resonated:
“I stopped explaining myself when I realised people only understand from their level of perception”
That, and…
“Life is easier when you don’t give a fuck”
Puts things into perspective… or am I being drawn into the world of affirmations without even realising it?
Who gives a fuck? Oh yeah, I forgot, it’s a taboo to not nod in agreement and treat statements as the most profound thing you have ever heard. Personally, I have bigger issues to deal with, as long as I have the people who love me and the ones who accept me as myself , I’m good thanks. Life is not a taboo.
I’ll carry on with my idle thoughts and ignoring the statements that tell me I should dance in the rain. For now, I’m happy to dream big, live small… no, wait… what am I supposed to think again?
TheOxygenThief 