I recently encountered the term “toxic positivity” and thought: wow, that’s new. Apparently, we now have a name for what we’ve been doing to ourselves, maybe even to others, all along.
Society teaches us to “stay positive”. So we learned early on to suppress anything dark, uncomfortable, or socially inconvenient—because negativity was seen as a flaw.
But isn’t the refusal to be negative a form of dishonesty?
Most of the time, expressing negativity is not just about being “negative.” It’s about being real. About acknowledging what exists that needs release.
And that is positive. Not because negativity feels good, but because honesty clears the air. It lets you move. It lets relationships breathe.
Life is not always about rainbows and flowers. There is also darkness, gloom, and rain.
We cannot stop the rain. So we let it fall — not because we like being wet, but because pretending the sky is clear is far more exhausting.
So here’s my takeaway:
Negativity expressed is positivity earned — and honesty won.