More Pollyana, less doom-loop
How long have things felt like they're getting worse instead of better?
If you were to read, watch, or listen to any media over the past decade, you would be hard-pressed to feel as though things are getting better. In fact, it seems impossible at this point for any person to engage with the narratives in the media and think anything other than the feeling that the world is getting worse.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
Just as the ever-eloquent Coleman Hughes relayed in his recent 'viral' interview on The View, the most significant shift in how we look at the world changed with smartphones. However you connect the dots, almost all data on why things feel worse point back to the smartphone. Concretely, it points to the apps that feed us an endless doom loop of anger, dogma, and outrage.
Deleting apps and disengaging from the mainstream media are steps we can take to minimise some of this impact. However, we need a more reliable solution. The news will always find a way to reach us, even if it's second-hand. The more reliable solution is how we respond.
As Barry Spivak wisely teaches us in his book Healing Social Divisions, society is defined by the energies we individually and collectively manifest. If we want to build a more positive future, it will always begin with the energy we each put into the world, which is why we advocate being a Pollyana.
Pollyanna is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. Due to the book's fame, "Pollyanna" has become a byword for someone who, like the title character, has an unfailingly optimistic outlook and a subconscious bias towards the positive.
Despite the common use of the term to mean "excessively cheerful", Pollyanna and her father played the glad game to cope with the real difficulties and sorrows that, along with luck and joy, shape every life.
The Pollyanna principle is the tendency for people to remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones. Research indicates that at the unconscious level, the mind tends to focus on the optimistic, while at the conscious level, it tends to focus on the negative. This unconscious bias is similar to the Barnum effect.*
In our upcoming mini-documentary, "What Would You Do in a Refugee Crisis?" we will tell the story of how this principle got millions of people through unimaginable hardship and crises.
Being 'overly optimistic' is often seen as a weak, naive, and unrealistic approach to life. But being a Pollyanna does not mean you lack the critical thinking required to challenge bad ideas and overcome life's great challenges. It means you approach life with a more open-minded, hopefully joyful, and generous outlook. Which is why some of the finest leaders were Pollyana's. Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, and Gandhi, look at their work, read their words, and deconstruct their leadership, and you will witness the Pollyana in full flow!
We look forward to sharing more about the Pollyanna principle, including how these leaders manifested it in future articles. For now, thanks for reading and take care.
Benjamin
*Taken from Wikipedia