That line is from Hamilton, that pretty well-known musical, but I guess Alexander Hamilton did say something pretty close to that as well, and no I'm not going to get political, at least I don't think so.
We are all sieves for information, taking things in and letting things out. Some things stick and stay with us (like the Juicy Fruit commercial from 1991), and other things pass right through (like whenever my husband talks about software design). A new concept that I am taking in, is the idea that rather than being anti-something, I would rather focus on what I am pro. I could get political and say it's like the propaganda of the pro-life movement, they are only pro-life in one way, and they are very much anti-living in a million other ways, but that's not news, I digress.
I was listening to a podcast about how when we are anti, we are closed off, it is a single line of thought and can also be terribly abstract. A concept I used to say is I am anticapitalism, but what does that really mean? And is it true? No, not exactly.
When we are pro things, whatever it is, we are expansive and open and positive and it allows us to be both open-hearted and open-minded to all sorts of possibilities. I am pro: money, living wage, enjoyment of life, healthcare for all, affordable higher education, preserving natural resources, gender and racial equality in all the ways, 35-hour work weeks, more paid vacation time, and I could go on and on about all the things I'm pro. Physically and mentally it feels better to be pro, to list all the things you like and you'd like to see more of. I'm not sure any of those things specifically mean anticapitalism, they just aren't necessarily qualities that are promoted in our current culture, but they could be. There is the possibility.
Now maybe this is a dumb concept, and you're thinking 'No doi, Sara', but I want you to try it. Next time you're in a conversation saying 'Ugh I hate that...' or 'I never want to....', those are all anti statements right? Take a minute to feel into your body and feel how tense and closed off you might be. Then deep breath, always, and reframe it. Instead of 'I hate when I get all the red lights in a row', how about 'I really like when I get green lights, I like blinking yellows, I prefer a 4 way stop, how about all the roundabouts?', yeah it might seem dumb, but these little shifts could really just change how you go about the rest of your day.
