I took this photo the other night whilst waiting for a tram. I had been out for dinner for a friend's birthday, and it was time for me to call it a night, as I could already feel myself getting too negative. Not super whiny negative, just getting into the weeds of more serious topics and I am trying to catch myself when I do so. Not that they would have minded perhaps, but still, I don't always want to be "that guy".
I took the photo on my phone and cropped it further.
I don't like mess.
I generally don't like too much going on in an image and a lot of the ones I take have a lot of negative space that gives the eyes a rest, as well as puts more focus on the subject. A lot of the images I take that I like have a big split of negative space that separates two sides of the image, rarely will it be in the centre. I just don't like images or movies or anything really, where things are too busy. A lot of the movies and shows these days move too fast for me, not so I don't understand, but that I don't get a chance to think about what is happening.
Space to think.
Over the last couple decades "safe spaces" have become a thing, where people have some kind of expectation that there should be places in public areas where they will not be challenged in anyway. I get creating home as a safe space, but I don't think it is sensible to expect to have safe spaces in public, especially from ideas. Yep, physically we should all be safe in public also, but the fact is, that isn't the case, and pretending it is so is going to lead to bad individual outcomes. Same for expecting to be safe from ideas.
It gets even more ludicrous expecting it online from anonymous strangers.
At least from my personal experiences and observations, we seem to have lost the ability to discuss topics in public, whether with strangers or friends. It is like the majority of people are tiptoeing around subjects, and the ones who aren't are purposely being inflammatory for attention and twisted pleasure. The art of the discussion seems dead, with the majority only talking about what they think isn't going to create any mess.
I hate mess too.
But conversational mess is different - I love it. I am not saying that I am particularly good in these conversations, but I really like being part of discussions where there are multiple views, complexities, caveats, and nuances. The types of conversations where a strong opinion could be softened, because a perspective came to light that hadn't been considered before. The type of point that makes a person go quiet and think.
A negative space.
We seem to have been brainwashed into believing that we should always feel good, which means we can only hear what we already agree with, or want to hear. But I believe that most of our growth can't be done in those areas, because we have already filled in the space. Instead, we need that negative space to put focus on the positive and ask the question, is this the only way?
We have filled our attention up with irrelevant content that we like and agree with, and we carry the distractions everywhere we go. We don't give our mind a chance to truly think about what we believe, what we have done, or what other avenues there may be. We are surrounded with clutter and like information hoarders, we are sitting in our own filth. Our world is getting smaller, as our minds are continually filled with junk, with spring never arriving for us to go through what we have collected, and clean out what we don't need.
We have put so much energy into positivity, but we are unhappier than ever.
And at least to me, it is obvious why. Because when we surround ourselves with all that we want in an environment that will never stay the same, eventually we are going to have to face the reality, that negativity is something we are going to have to learn to live with.
Taraz
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