On Positivity in Daily Life

The last couple of years have been a really long journey for me in shedding the baggage picked up from various parts of my life. This year in particular, I've tried to adjust my mode of thinking to shed the negative. Engaging it brings me nothing. It's like Marie Kondo's tidying for the mind. If a relationship, an activity, a train of thought doesn't bring you joy, why do you engage it? Why eat a meal you hate? Why waste mental energy on a person who doesn't respect you?

I fully realize that the ability to even try to take a zen attitude about things like relationships and work and family drama comes from a place of privilege. A mix of innate gifts, hard work, and pure luck being born in the skin I am in, in the family I am, and with the social network I have allow me a level of freedom to choose where to focus my energy that not every person has. My own obligations to others have waxed and waned and impacted this attitude, but I won't pretend that those factors have any bearing on my …