THE VIRTUE OF NEGATIVITY

September 12th, 2019

Most people just complain, and that’s a good start.

The unfortunate part is that all effort often ends with the complaint.

In order to improve anything, it’s first necessary to have a perspective that is oriented negatively enough to find fault.

By this metric alone, nearly everyone qualifies to be a genius.

But of course we laud little the talent of finding fault.  Everyone can do it because it’s easy.  But this does not mean it should be under valued or shunned.  The capacity to find fault simultaneously evokes the possibility of a reality that could be better.

The is the virtue of negativity, the fact that it elicits a vision of life improved.

But this is only one piece of the puzzle and the first step towards improvement.  How our thoughts and actions develop as a further response determines whether the negativity of a perspective remains negative or if it undergoes the metamorphosis required to bring about a better circumstance.

A simple and often asked question strikes at the heart of this metamorphosis.  When we listen to a complaint, or hear one from our own self, we can ask:

What are you going to do about it?

This flips the negative perspective inside out and asks directly what the world would look like if this negative thing ceased to exist.

In this way, the negative and the possible positive are inextricably linked.

For instance, without any idea, inkling or feeling about how bad something is, how could we ever improve?