I clearly remember the first time I had the thought "he's just not happy unless there's something he can COMPLAIN about!"
I was maybe 15, and was starting to notice how my English stepfather's preferred "communication style" was to find something to complain about — however trivial it might be — and then would harp endlessly on the point.
The weather, the traffic, the way the eggs were cooked, the way the lawn was mowed, today's round of golf, the stock market... there was always some kind of complaint at the heart of every conversation.
Even when he was complimenting someone, there was always a complaint attached, like when he would say to my mother (something like) "This salmon is really good, but not as good as Aunt Beatrice's!"
He passed away 35 years later, and one of the last things I remember him saying was that the kind lady who came in every day to cook his dinner "was not really a very good cook."
I am well aware of the old saying "misery loves company," and I suppose he was always trying to "connect" over things that were wrong with the world; with his world.
As I recall, he grew up with a father who was either absentee or never happy with anything when we was present.
I suppose it's ironic that one could interpret this post as a complaint about people who complain a lot...
However, that's not really my intention here... I prefer to focus on the things I do have that I can be grateful for. I'm not going to pretend that there isn't hardship and that sometimes I just can't figure out what's wrong with the world... but that tends to be the exception, rather my full-time preoccupation.
Which brings me around to social media, in general.
I just don't see very much content that's based around good and amazing things in life; things that inspire and encourage and teach in a positive manner.
It's one of the reasons I really like the Yes Theory channel on YouTube — the content is both interesting and positive.
I'm not going to pretend that we live in some miraculous world without faults... but I don't need reminders of the horrors of humanity shovelled into my brain, 24/7! I know everything could blow up at a moment's notice, and some horrible natural disaster could send us all off to live in a FEMA camp.
But I'm kinda done with it... you know?
Maybe it's just human nature to focus on what's wrong, rather than what's right. Goodness knows, we're trained for that by the media.
I just find myself setting increasingly hard boundaries with the eternally negative.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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2026.08.18 01:15 PDT
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