Conscious Minute #4
Positivity Recharge
Last week, I suggested a positivity experiment to seven friends spread out all over the country — different professions, political parties, levels of optimism. The experiment: “For seven days, in a group text, let’s post one thing we are excited about each day. Ground rules: No negative language (and yes, that includes political schadenfreude!).”
Each day for a week, the group shared messages like these:
- “I’m excited to enjoy a perfect Fall day driving around listening to R.E.M. songs.”
- “I’m excited for lunch with my brother to celebrate his new apartment.”
- “I’m excited to watch Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Go-Go’s documentaries and work on a knitting project.”
- “I’m happy I just did yoga again after a long break.”
- “I’m excited that this group text is happening as we all need positivity in our lives right now!”
It was amazing to observe my friends amplifying each other’s excitement, sharing music and podcast recommendations, and asking questions to get to know each other more deeply. At the end of the seven days, my friends relayed ripple effects beyond the group and experiment. One friend mentioned the idea to another pal who started a similar group text. Two friends bought and started new gratitude journals. Another started meditating again.
Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, author of the book, Positivity, explains how we can affect one another’s well-being through “positivity resonance”: mutually exchanging positive emotions, mirroring one another’s facial expressions and body language (called “biobehavioral synchrony”), and investing in one another’s well-being.
We are all juggling multiple stressors — work, the pandemic, the looming election, social justice issues — that deplete and drain our energy, and can allow negative emotions to chip away at our spirit. But if we take moments to re-charge our own well-being, and then intentionally focus on igniting positive emotions in others, we can enhance the well-being of our friends, relationship partners, colleagues, and groups. What’s one activity you can try today to boost your own positivity and that of one other person?
