You’re ready to go! You want to learn how to change the way you, as a writer, respond to the built-in adversities of the writing life.
And you want to learn now!
I want to help you move ahead. So here’s a piece of information that will be like a traveling well on a desert journey. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, award- winning director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab and Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, has identified the importance of what she calls a Positivity Ratio.
That means that if you create enough positive emotion for yourself you’ll experience what Dr. Fredrickson calls an “upward spiral” and a more reliable sense of optimism. In our writing lives, that may mean changing enough of the language you use in reaction to the vicissitudes of the writing life to begin experiencing optimistic response as heartfelt and more natural.
Since creating a positivity ratio seems to be crucial to changing ourselves from writers who may get stuck in prolonged periods of negativity into writers who feel energized, creative and productive, you may want information about what your positivity ratio is right now. You may make some initial discoveries that will help you along the way.
Whether you’re a natural optimist in need of occasional shoring up, or a hard-leaning pessimist who doesn’t even believe this is all possible, check out Dr. Fredrickson’s website and take the positivity self-assessment.
Try to experience the results as interesting and informative. That will help you notice where you are right now, and you can start from there.
Wherever it is will be…just right!
[...] No one can tell you what will absolutely work for you. Your openness to trying a variety of tools will let you know which ones are a good match for your personality, values, and where you’re at right now in your life. [...]