Alright, I’m doing a self experiment and plan on sharing it on here. I’ll tag it as project positivity, so if you don’t want to see it, you can blacklist this hashtag! :)
I’ve been unemployed for about half a year, meaning I spend most of my day alone at home. I love watching documentaries and short info videos on youtube. Things that interest me are often linked to justice, social issues like feminism, racism, lgbt rights... But I’m so invested in these issues, watching people being mistreated, having backwards views etc upsets me a lot. Recently I realized how much negativity there’s in my daily life because of the things I’m drawn to: I watch videos that upset me, I read Facebook / Youtube comments of people expressing their hateful views, I’m even a big fan of true crime (podcasts) and therefore know a lot of fucked up things individuals have done in the past. Is all this negativity affecting my attitude, my confidence, my outlook on life, other people and the world? My mental health?
To find out if this is the case, I want to do this little experiment. Starting with one week, I will try to keep negative topics out of my daily life.
No negative youtube videos
No: “reacting to [someone being horrible]” or videos about injustice
Yes: videos of cute animals, nature, people supporting each other
No “negative” TV shows & movies
No: crime, drama, horror, injustice...
Yes: feel good shows & movies!
No reading comments on social media
Honestly, why do I even do this? People in the comments are horrible.
No true crime podcasts
Instead: general feel good podcasts, self improvement & self love
Less social media in general
Instead: focussing more on education & self love
My goal: by surrounding myself with positive things, I want to change the way I think, especially about myself.
I’m not sure yet how much I’ll post about this little experiment. But I think writing down what I want to change and how I feel while trying to, will benefit me. And maybe I’ll inspire other people to do something similar. Feel free to message me or maybe even to share your own journey.
I know that it’s important to keep up with what is happening. To see, acknowledge and share the grievances that happen in this world. So shutting everything out is not something that I will be doing forever. But right now I need to focus on my own wellbeing.