The problem with the ‘be-positive’ mindset in the time of pandemic

Avoiding the distress around and blindly accepting the status quo is not positivity. In fact, it will only entrench the malaise bothering us

The COVID-19 pandemic has unsettled the world in many ways. Mentally too. People are worried about family and personal well-being and income losses. And with conversations, media coverage, and social media chatter incessantly confirming how dire things are and may remain, anxiety levels are only mounting.

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Unsurprisingly, we are being asked to be positive. Doing the urging is a difficult-to-ignore chorus of political leaders, celebrities, mental health experts, and WhatsApp group luminaries. Despite the group’s diversity, there is some consensus on how pandemic-time positivity could be achieved. Here’s the commonly recommended recipe: Structured days, quality time with family, physical exercise, hobbies, breathing exercises, meditation, distancing from media and the negative-minded. (Note that I do not talk of mental health conditions here. Those need more serious attention and engagement.)

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So far, so good. We are, after all, in unprecedentedly testing times; understand that stressed minds will struggle to plot a bounce back and know how helpful stable body rhythms and becalming company can be for finding equanimity. What could be the problem then with the ‘be positive’ exhortation? There are two.

One: The privileged could ensconce further into their bubbles – at a time when they have just begun registering they inhabit one! Emerging tales of destitution and overwhelmed health systems, together with the specter of unavailable hospital beds for themselves and labor for their homes and workplaces, have triggered some level of introspection among the privileged.

Possibly for the first time, many privileged folk are acknowledging their fortunate, insulated positions, reflecting on whether they have been fair employers and engaged citizens, wondering if their enthusiastic championing of centralised governance and social expenditure cuts over the years was misplaced.

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These are difficult thoughts to deal with, and calls for positivity at this juncture may just serve as the cue to ditch those thoughts and revert to default settings. Of denial, of indifference. It will be an opportunity lost for adding more and influential voices to demands for a much-needed reordering of public policy, business, and individual priorities.

Two: The establishment and its sympathisers can use it as a cover to duck inconvenient questions. Individuals and groups pointing to shortcomings in the official response to the pandemic are already being accused of bringing down national morale, scare-mongering, and spreading negative energies.

The expectation, nay demand, is that everyone should accept if not laud whatever is being done – and, certainly, should not be making acquaintances and the public-at-large more uncomfortable than they already are with their laments however genuine. In essence, it is a call to defer to the official position, in the name of sensitivity to co-citizens’ despondent moods.

Lest all this be misconstrued, let me explicitly recognise that self-care and displays of understanding, solidarity, and generosity are critical at this point. They are necessary to bring sunshine amidst the prevailing gloom, and that sunshine will propel us farther and to better places than seem plausible presently. But.

But there is another, rather salient dimension of positivity we need to remain cognizant of: That it must aspire for a better today and an even better tomorrow. What really is the point of nourishing ourselves if the dividend isn’t a less tortured, more just world for ourselves and our children?

If this positivity dividend is to be realised, our understandings of positivity must change. Avoiding the distress around and blindly accepting the status quo, the direction we are being nudged into, is not positivity. In fact, it will only entrench the malaise bothering us. True positivity lies not in denials and abdications but in acknowledging what is unfolding, healing and equipping ourselves to deal with it, imbuing ourselves and those around us with the hope and confidence that things will improve.

So, roll out the yoga mat, go for a digital detox, connect with friends, enroll for that photography course you’ve been long planning to, guiltlessly consume some comfort food. Remember to return though. The world needs those refreshed minds and bodies.

(Manish Dubey is a policy analyst and writer)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.