If you were commuting to work and you happened to witness a deadly automobile accident, would you deny how horrific it was and try to pretend everything is great even though you’re traumatized? Probably not; anyone in their right mind would react to the terrible reality of the situation and act accordingly. Yet we have these ridiculous positivity gurus in our society who attempt to shame logical people into burying any truth that isn’t 100% positive, and it’s complete bullshit. Life is full of both positive and negative events, and we need to acknowledge the existence of both if we’re going to persevere. How can you possibly overcome a negative event if you’re too naive and chickenshit to even acknowledge it? You can’t, and that’s why real life doesn’t have cheerleaders. You can’t fake away real shit; it will always catch up with you.
I’ve been through a lot in my 34 years. I’ve been an annoyance to my superiors, a joke to my peers, they call me Spooky…oh wait. Now I’m just quoting The X-Files: Fight the Future (one of my favorite movies). But in all seriousness, I’ve been bullied to the point of attempting suicide, sexually assaulted, and hurtfully rejected by a shockingly large percentage of the people I tried to trust. It’s remarkable that I can trust anyone at this point. If it weren’t for my wonderful husband, I still wouldn’t be able to trust anyone with a penis. I’m fine with being honest about these things, but why is it so taboo to talk about them? Life isn’t all roses and walks in the park: Am I the only one brave enough to admit it?
Call me negative all you want, but I cannot tell a lie and I don’t want to. I don’t see it as negativity, but rather as truth, and truth is what sets us free. If you insist on playing the naive cheerleader who never acknowledges that anything bad ever happens in the world, do the rest of us a favor and don’t shame us for being realistic. When the storm clouds roll in, we’ll have the presence of mind to deal with them in a productive and adult manner instead of running away with our eyes covered, pretending everything is great. Realism is strength, and no one should be ridiculed for being strong enough to get through life’s toughest challenges.
Musings of a Dog Mom 