Heroes Not Zombies

Silver linings – even behind the darkest storm clouds we can see sunlit fluffy white ones ready to emerge. When I look at this image I realise you can approach it two ways, partly because it’s a snapshot. You can see a white cloud in the process of being obscured by a black stormy one, or you can see a black stormy cloud moving away to reveal a white one. But it’s not just the lack of time context which allows us to approach this image in two ways. We can apply the same old glass half full, half empty adage. If you are of an optimistic disposition you’ll probably be tempted to see this as an image of the end of a storm. On the other hand, if you’re rather more pessimistic, or fearful, then you’ll see this as a storm approaching.

Pretty much the same thing happens all the way through the average day, doesn’t it? Don’t you know some people whose stories are full of mishaps and “bad luck”? And others who seem to land on their feet in every circumstance. Why is that?

Well, again, you can’t really know without context. When someone has suffered a lot of trauma in the past, it’s easy to understand why they might be fearful, and wary. And when someone is currently in difficult circumstances…..poverty, poor housing, surrounded by violence, even war, it’s not difficult to understand they will have trouble seeing the positive potentials in each day.

However, as ever, it’s not black and white. Psychologists who study happiness can find high levels of positive thought and happiness amongst very poor populations, although they also find that being extremely rich and famous is no guarantee of happiness either.

It’s not fixed either. If circumstances are changed that can help a lot….one of the best arguments for “Universal Basic Income”. We can choose, as a society, to create healthy, affirming and supportive environments for children to grow up in. We can, and should, expect politicians to look after the Commons, to tend to the water, the air, the soil, to the food supply and so on. That would be a good start, don’t you think?