The ability to “dispute” your negative thoughts is a cornerstone of changing pessimistic thinking to optimistic. For me, and for many clients, learning to dispute is an invaluable skill.
But it is not the only technique for creating positive emotions. For those of us who “flow” more naturally toward negativity, a variety of tools are helpful as we create and maintain the learned positivity that opens our writer’s minds to greater energy, creativity, problem-solving and even facility with words.
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.
Since feelings are transient, you need to continue to work at creating that 3:1 positive to negative “positivity ratio” that’s the current research standard. But new body and brain cells grow as you create an “upward spiral” of positivity and generally make the process easier. Committed practice leaves you feeling more adept at “doing” optimism.
Driving to a meeting the other day, I noticed a slight heaviness gathering in my chest. I was anticipating the meeting with a little bit of negative emotion. Not a lot. Just a little. But enough to distract me.
Since I was driving, figuring out what I might be anticipating and disputing my thoughts wasn’t a great option. But I remembered that one of Barbara Fredrickson’s research studies described in POSITIVITY included participants’ response to photographs, and I had my camera in the car.
I stopped at The Chicago Botanic Gardens on my way to the meeting. I’m a member, and didn’t have to pay for parking, which made my plan easier. I took some photos of a favorite scene of prairie grass. The minute I did I felt better.
Seeing and holding on to the scene with a photograph took the edge off my impending negativity, and left me feeling stronger and in a better mood for my meeting. More “open”. Once that happened, I could use skills that reinforced a positive experience, skills that sometimes elude me if I’m feeling down.
If you want to try this experiment, look at the two pictures below one at a time. Notice the feeling that is created inside you when you look at each picture.
Do you notice any change in your emotions as you move from one picture to the next?
How will this help your writing? In many posted comments at The Irrepressible Writer, writers share their own specific techniques with limiting negativity and writer’s block. Plenty of those techniques have nothing to do with writing, but everything to do with creating the positive emotions that impact writing energy, creativity and problem-solving.
It’s not that negative emotions are evil. It’s that they can limit our emotional and intellectual energy and abilities.
A photograph that elicits positive emotion from you could be the thing that distracts you from a negative place with your writing and bumps you back into productivity.
Do you have favorite photographs that could be a powerful writing tool for you?
Positive imagery is a great way to improve mood. When I need to de-stress or focus, I put my headphones on and listen to calming ocean or rain forest sounds. I bet combining audio and visual would be an even bigger boost.
I also like to use images more directly in my writing to help me visualize characters or locations. It can really help answer questions that come up as I’m writing.
Great writing idea, Kara – I’m going to experiment with the idea of using images more directly in my writing, as you suggest.
Several years ago an online friend told me that he found a way to combat his depression by carrying a camera with him and taking photos. The conscious act of having to look for something worth taking a picture of made him focus of the beauty in the world. I tried this on my walks and found that it helped me, too.
I love this description of your friend’s “conscious act.” It’s good to keep concrete and intellectual “tools” with us in case we need them. Otherwise, lots of us find that we can easily forget that we have a choice about how we think – and therefore how we feel. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
The background photo on my computer screen is a winding boardwalk leading into a birch forest, a photo I took at a local wildlife refuge. It’s inviting, encouraging me to head down the trail and explore. I chose it so I’d have a visual reminder that writing is an amazing journey.
Sounds beautiful…I tend to change my background once or twice a year, but it’s always an outdoor, expansive scene…