Words are hugely important to me. (I know that sounds ridiculously obvious, but bear with me – I am going somewhere with this.) Not only are words my currency (I’m a writer by trade), they’re my vehicle for interpreting the world. I’ve worked with a lot of designers who are primarily visual – they see the world in colours and shapes. Me, my frame of reference is words, both spoken and written.
I’m starting to understand more and more how the
words I use, internally and externally, are creating my world more than they
are reflecting it. Today I read an intriguing scientific study which found that
all languages skew towards the use of happy words. The author notes: “This confirms the 1969 Pollyanna
Hypothesis that there is a universal human tendency to ‘look on and talk about
the bright side of life.’”
What this means is
that we’ve been given the tools to be predominantly upbeat, optimistic people. Which
is not to say that we should be happy *all* the time – you’re unlikely to want
to bust out your biggest smile when someone rear-ends your car – but that the
path of least resistance is to be positive, overall, even in the face of adversity. However,
if you actually start to think about the types of sentences you utter on the
reg, you’ll probably find – as I have – that they are predominantly negative.
Oh.
Aaaaaaaand research
also shows that even looking at a negative word for a few seconds is enough to release
stress chemicals in your brain. Sad face.
The more I practice
mindfulness, the more aware I am of the frequency that negative words pass
through my brain and my lips. I’m making a habit of reshaping those. I’m not
saying I’m ever going to be able to eliminate negativity completely – hello, I live
in the real world! – but I think the more often I can reframe my mindset, the
better. As noted in a previous post, the law of attraction means negative words
and thoughts draw negative experiences into my world. Ain’t nobody got time for
that shit.
Worth thinking about,
right?