Thoughts on BRIGHT SIDED by Barbara Erenreich
posted by Caelidh | November 15, 2009
- Login or register to post comments
- Print this page
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Propeller
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
IcerocketI am currently reading Barbara Erenreich's book BRIGHT SIDED How the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America.
I just am into chapter 2.
I felt very validated when this book came out.
However, I would like to note that I do believe that body and mind are interconnected and there are a lot things to say about the emotions of love and positive energy. I do believe that our thoughts can manifest powerful things... (good and bad) , in the universe.
BUT, and I think this is more her premise, our society has been driven by a multimillion dollar industry of "motivational" speakers that have created an unrealistic attitude towards life.
I don't know HOW many times I have been just going through my day.. or sitting there not feeling much of anything.. and someone says " hey, why so mad, or sad... SMILE". I KID you not. It is a huge pet peeve of mine as I usually am not really feeling ANYTHING at that moment. Not anger or sadness.. but not exstatic JOY either. I usually feel more negative after those interactions than I did before.. as I was just "being in the moment' .. more than anything.
When my mother had been in the ICU for a week and I was not at my best at work and I was literally dragging myself emotionally through my day.. I had a co-worker say I should "smile" I would "feel better".. I snapped at him.. my emotional tether having snapped and said "My mother has been in the ICU all week and I am really not doing so well".
This man was a clinician that deals with depressed patients too!. There was little empathy.. and rather merely a PUSH to me to "get my act together and smile and be happy. my emotional state would follow". Needless to say.. I felt more isolated and alone after that incident rather than supported and validated for where I was.
It would have been more appropriate to say "hey.. you looked a bit stressed.. is there anything I can do? .. " Even giving a hug would be more helpful rather than telling me to smile.!
I was ALSO told that "crying" was only sending out negative energy that wasn't helpful to my mum at that time!! (and I would only cry when I got home at night.. )
I also am thinking about James Arthur Ray who has his own multi million dollar motivational industry.. I went to his website only to be greeted by a bright white gleaming smile.. (probably from recent dental work)... and yet had several "clients' DIE in a sweat lodge. Perhaps he believes THEY did something wrong.. or didn't push themselves enough.. rather than taking responsibility for utterly being irresponsible himself.!
So.. while I will offer more of a complete review of the book when I finish.. that are my early thoughts on the topic. .... But I think she has a point.. a very important point....
Namaste
BE WHERE YOU ARE!.
UPDATE:
Overall.. the book is good and correct in its attack on the "positive thinking" cult...
HOWEVER
I will say that I do disagree strongly with her ideas and criticisms/skepticism about
mind/body theory and ideas about thoughts "manifesting" I believe they do...
HOWEVER.. there IS a lot of confusing JUNK out in the world. As with a lot of the 2012
stuff you can see how good ideas.. genuine and authentic and sincere ideas and questions
get lost in the muck of the Capitalistic and Consumeristic FRENZY... and she does note
this. Most of the book is roundly criticising the the Corporate industry adopting
the "positive thinking" paradigm to justify irresponsible corporate culture that promotes
layoffs and essentially "blaming" the worker for lack of productivity, low morale and
not being able to adapt to the rapid change.
As we can see from the fallout of the Financial collapse... how those attitudesn and the
PUSH from Corporate America (even the Fundamentalist Corporate religous boom sector0
that their chant of "be positive and you too can be rich" has failed miserably.
She basically is setting her argument as that while there was this push to encourage
POSITIVE THINKING in the working world... Corporate Giants and the industry could
do whatever they wanted.. becasue they had been so brainwashed by then to believe
there WAS No titanium ceiling.. it was all UP UP UP and NOTHING could go wrong....
Well.. we can see where that turned out.
So... for any of you who feel that she is being merely unduly critical of having a healthy
positive attitude.. back off a bit until you read the book. She has a lot of valid points..
but I do agree that some of the stuff early on in the book is a bit more harsh than I would
accept...
Overall.. a good, must read book!
Comments
some things she left out
— Nov 16, 2009
She contrasts Clinton vs Bush jr... regarding their optimism and positive thinking ...
yet she doesn't mention Carter.. who was HARSHLY condemned for his "Malais"
speech where he warned us all about being slightly more subdued in our values
concerning our lifestyles...
Reagan of course.. swept all that away.. "
CARTER MALAISE Speech
EXCERPT"
"It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper --
deeper than gasoline lines of energy shortages, deeper
even than inflation or recession.
And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help.
So, I decided to reach out and listen to the voices of America.
The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our Nation.
The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.
The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July. It is the idea which founded our Nation and has guided our development as a people. Confidence in the future has supported everything else -- public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the United States. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. We've always believed in something called progress. We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.
Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy. As a people we know our past and we are proud of it. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world. We always believed that we were part of a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in the search for freedom, and that belief has always strengthened us in our purpose. But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter's_%22malaise_speech%22
why-jimmy-carters-malaise-speech-should-have-changed-america.htm
— Nov 16, 2009
In the summer of 1979, America faced an energy crisis punctuated by long gas lines and frayed national nerves. President Jimmy Carter was scheduled to address the nation about its problems on July 5, 1979. But he canceled the speech on the day before and sequestered himself at Camp David for 10 mysterious days, communing with Americans from different walks of life in a "domestic summit" that culminated in his famous "malaise" speech. In "What the Heck Are You Up to Mr. President?" Jimmy Carter, America's "Malaise," and the Speech That Should Have Changed the Country, Ohio University historian Kevin Mattson argues the speech is misremembered. He chatted recently with U.S. News about why Carter's moment should be reconsidered. Excerpts:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/07/24/why-jimmy-carters-mala...
The "Conservative"
— Nov 16, 2009
The "Conservative" retort
Looking back now, the malaise speech indicates a turning point in our history, one that helps define Barack Obama's recent victory. The age of conservatism--from Reagan's 1980 election up through the end of George W. Bush's second term--has been framed not by Carter's tones of humility but by celebratory nationalism. In fact, the conservative game plan was laid by Ronald Reagan's direct retort to the malaise speech, made when announcing his candidacy against Carter. Reagan explained, "I find no national malaise." Instead, America stood as a "shining city on a hill," a term he used persistently throughout the campaign.
From that moment, sacrifice and civic obligation faded from presidential rhetoric. You never heard Carter's language from either of the Bushes--not even in the wake of September 11, when W. instead told Americans to go shopping. Or consider 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who suggested all was well in "real America"--it was only Washington that had problems. Such was the end-game of right-wing populism: government bad, people good
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/elections-politics-politics/123103...
sorting through the allegations
— Nov 17, 2009
this whole POSITIVE THINKING movement really has a knack of triggering folks.
Afterall.. we don't want to be the naysayers.. the negative ninny's..
I, for one, believe in many concepts of the power of the individual
to in fact.. overcome things.. without the use of drugs etc..
I believe in the power of placebos and the validity of them!
I believe in the power of the mind/body connection...
I believe in the power of what we put out into the universe
can in fact manifest.
HOWEVER.....
What I have issue with.. is how folks grab a hold of these ideas and apply
them VERY liberally and sloppily and even very Calvinistically in our society.
There is the idea that if you JUST SMILE.. your body will be be happier.
I have been incredibly angry at times and been told to "smile" .. that I will
feel better. I felt worse after being told that. I was angry and lashed out.
I felt worse because I was being told that where i was at that moment was NOT
acceptable.. that being upset was NOT appropriate... and I should CHANGE
my attittude. I felt that the person who did that to me was inappropriate
in telling me I should do something and insinuating I would feel better.
This is a vapid shallow and not very empathetic understanding.
I have commented on it before.
I was told when my mum was in the ICU that I shouldn't cry.. because
that is sending negative energy out to her and isn't helpful!
But what about crying for ME.. as a release.. as an opportunity to mourn
to feel emotion.. and be where I was in that moment. There is this
fake stoicism.. perhaps left over from the Britishness in some of us..
Stiff upper lip.. be POSITIVE.. and suppress any and all NEGATIVE emotions
or feelings. WHAT A LOAD OF BULLSHIT!
and yet. .that is what has been pulled out as the ONLY acceptable way to be.
and folsk have made a killing on it and many just don't seem to understand the
difference between that and having a good ability to eventually have
an optimistic hopeful or even wishful vision... You can do collage boards
and put together spells that send messages out into the universe.. I have done that
alot.... and not all of them work.. SometimeS I am blown away at what has
worked.. seemingly when I don't even try.. and then when I try. I fail.
I ask.. "I have done all this POSITIVE stuff.. put a lot of positive energy out into
the universe why are things NOT working? " ANSWER? Because there is more
negativity than positivity out there.. that one NEGATIVE word is more powerful that 10
positive thoughts..
GREAT.. with those odds.. what a life..
Mis-Informed Smilers
— Nov 18, 2009
Can I just say,, and I will go out on a limb tip toeing. That people who say just smile might have good intentions but the fact is, is that they dont go deep enough into the person to whom they are saying that too. Society doesnt know how to be empathetic or sympathetic. They use rehearsed words and thoughts from chatter at water coolers in hopes to be recongnized for thier efforts or in wanting in on the next new thing. Basically they are asking you to stuff down your feelings and blow them off. And we all know that they pop up somewhere. Next time someone tells you to smile tell them,, Not today, Today... I am feeling. On a different note,
There is much more to positive thinking, positive words and generating manifestation then the motion.
On average the brain is more intelligent than the human that is lugging it around all day and you cant fool it by slipping in a word or pretend motion. That is not to say you dont put forth a true effort or heart felt thought behind it..But It is a collective built in, no expectation, belief without question. It is a way of being not doing. One nano of disbelif and poof gone. One second guess, gone. One waver of trust within, gone. It takes the genuine words of I dont care to recieve and by that I dont mean "dont care about others". I mean dont care so much about the outcome just know you will recieve, no questions. Asking comes from all different place and so much is built around it. Your higherself so to speak knows if you really want or need something and if you will even allow yourself to recieve it.
Food for thought or an experiment next time you ask for something see how many times you find yourself thinking about how it probably wont happen or how if you dont get it within one day you think "this doesnt work". Did you put a time limit on it when you asked? most dont. So many details its crazy.
Always let all your feelings out no matter and let others believe that the smile they hid behind is fixing it all. Afterall, you are making room for the good stuff. Oh and tears well ,,they did a study and tears that are cried out of sadness and pain measure a toxic chemical opposed to tears cried out of joy and happiness. Cry on sister, cry on.
