Hari's Corner

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Negativity kills creativity

Filed under: Life and Leisure by Hari
Posted on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 09:56 IST (last updated: Wed, Jul 16, 2008 @ 20:21 IST)

Negativity: there's so much of it going around in the world that it's hard to stay positive. I don't know what promotes negativity, but one thing I'm certain of is that a lot of people work really hard to propagate it. Through the media, through newspapers, through the internet and even through personal contact, bad news travels faster than the speed of light. The front page of newspapers inevitably covers some sensationalized story which spoils our morning breakfast. When you turn on a television news channel, the chances of seeing a report on some violence in some part of the world is quite high. Then again, many people we meet in our daily lives seem to thrive on some kind of gloom and seem keen on sharing that with others. It's hard to stay positive in such a set up.

One thing I've learned is that negativity is such an easy trap to fall into. Pick any topic for discussion and it's possible to reinforce wrong notions and destroy goodwill very easily. And most likely, people pick up that bit very easily. Hard work which produces excellent results seldom make the headlines. But one small failure amidst all that success attracts the maximum attention. The successful launch of a space rocket takes up less space while a technical failure or a hitch is highlighted. It's not just the media either. It's also about some people who seem to take pleasure in highlighting the flaws of others in order to hide and cover their own insecurities. Maybe they feel better as a result of that. Maybe they want to ruin other people's joy and happiness when they themselves are so wrapped in misery so as to derive a sadistic pleasure out of doing so. No matter what, they spend all their lives at it, achieving very little else. It just takes a few drops of poison to ruin a whole pot of rice. Removing or extracting that poison from the food is probably a hundred times more difficult and time-consuming than putting it in in the first place. It's wiser to discard the poisoned food and cook afresh.

The only solution to kill negativity is to avoid it and remain positive. I have to emphasize that part. You have to avoid it. Combating negativity with positive energy can be time consuming and wasteful particularly in issues which really don't make any difference in one's life. It's much easier just to block one's mind from such issues and focus on what is really useful. For that reason I've tried hard to keep this blog positive in tone and content. I've found that being negative kills creativity to a large extent. On many occasions, I've been sorely tempted to criticize and condemn other people, but I've refrained from doing so because it can be an extremely addictive but worthless pastime. On so many occasions, I've been outraged by something I read either in the newspapers or on the internet, but I've refrained from commentary and put that out of my mind as quickly as possible. Maybe I can even get additional traffic by promoting controversy here. But in the long run, such content will only ruin the tone of my writings. It will ruin my creativity, it will kill my sense of humour and diminish the joy of writing. More importantly it will ruin my mood and plunge me into needless flame wars with random unpleasant strangers who are better avoided.

I've said it before in other ways, but for those who've always been wondering why I've never spoken out on sensitive issues on this blog, this is the answer. Negativity has that ability to suck up precious energy that can be better spent in productive ways.

11 comment(s)

  1. I spent 26 years in the American military and I have always, at least tried, too see my glass half full. Negative people irritate me they rather complain and waste time then get on with their lives.

    Comment by Dick (visitor) on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 @ 13:34 IST #
  2. Thanks for your comment Dick. Yes, the problem with negative people is that they want to drag others down too with their negativity.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 @ 15:02 IST #
  3. Wow, thats some effort! And this does explain a lot about why there aren't any reactions from you on current issues and other things.Although, I must say, your blog for that reason is always a nice read. :) Long live Papa Hari!!

    Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 @ 05:48 IST #
  4. Thanks Sudipta. Hope I didn't bore you to tears with this article. :lol:

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 @ 09:02 IST #
  5. negative thoughts are fine as long as we can learn from it and avoid such things in future. I do not prefer hiding them....

    Comment by Shrinidhi (visitor) on Sun, Sep 23, 2007 @ 13:18 IST #
  6. Shri, it's not about hiding negative thoughts. It's avoiding negativity as much as possible and not helping in spreading them.If I start ranting on this blog, I'm sure I'll do that regularly and it will take away a lot from my writings. ;)

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sun, Sep 23, 2007 @ 14:56 IST #
  7. Thank you for writing this. I am a very cynical, "glass is half empty" kind of person and reading this has really made me think about it. I'm only negative because I choose to be, not because I have to be. I've really started to think more positively because being angry over the tiniest misstep by others is killing me. Again, thank you for changing my perspective. There can't be silver lining for everything, but I can at least be happy to be alive.

    Comment by Miranda (visitor) on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 @ 04:54 IST #
  8. Miranda, I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks a lot for your comment. I appreciate it. :D

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 @ 08:49 IST #
  9. Thank you for this blog!! i really enjoyed reading it!!! Negativity kills everything! Sometimes when things start getting a little sad or crazy its just a matter of thinking about how many people would love to be in your place!! as biggest your problem looks, be sure that there are people out there with 10 times bigger problems than yours. Im :-D grateful to be alive! :)

    Comment by Mike Kerr (visitor) on Tue, Feb 3, 2009 @ 03:10 IST #
  10. Agree with Mike kerr 100% :)

    Comment by Maria Droganova (visitor) on Tue, Feb 3, 2009 @ 15:53 IST #
  11. I haven't realize so long how much negativity can effect. But these days I'm noticing different signs that are very uncomfortable and feels like really blocking me who I'm. It's a struggle to go through it every day and if I wouldn't be able to identify the little nuances I would be long lost. I would think my like is worthless full of no ideas while actually the opposite is true. I'm realizing more and more of it every day that I need to get out of this negativity that surrounds me and need my creativity flourish.

    Comment by Suzanne (visitor) on Sun, Mar 6, 2016 @ 02:25 IST #

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