Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Staying Positive Through It All

Blogging Circle of Friends: DAY 3420 July 1, 2022

Social aspects: Half full or half empty
Is it easier for you to see the positive in a situation or the negative in a situation? In your network of friends are you the one that sees the potential in any given situation?

Having grown up under the umbrella of negativity and depression from my mother's clinical depression, I have learned to develop a more positive outlook. I say learned, because I felt the heaviness of that dark cloud that seemed to follow my mother around. I did not want it to be what I was, so I made a conscious decision to change.

Sometimes I struggle to stay positive, but for the most part, I think I stay on the upbeat side... particularly when I am with friends.

I have developed a sense of humour that tends to lift people out of their funk. I began doing this as a child. Doing comedy routines based on Tim Conway's Old Man character, I found I could get my mother to laugh. Physical humour had her in stitches and kept me out of trouble. Even if that trouble was only annoying my mother's last nerve. Her depression often left her irritable and snappish.

Over the years, I have learned to play with language. Comedic comments tend to fall out of me on occasion. They lighten the mood and make me feel appreciated and included in social settings. Settings that, at one time, scared the devil out of me, as I was painfully shy.

Yes, humour is a defense mechanism for me. I am aware of that.

Having grown up under that umbrella, I mentioned earlier, has also allowed me to read people and emotions with a high level of sensitivity. I can be compassionate, and I can also use humour to lighten the situation and get the person feeling less stressed. Get them to open up and talk to me. More often than not, it works.
I like bolstering others. I use humour and peppy talks to get others feeling better. Perhaps this is why I like working with students. I feel for those who come from the more broken families, like my own, I want to raise them out of the place they are in and let them see it is possible to overcome a sad situation.

I am also inclined to sing. It makes me feel lighter. So often I have had others comment on the fact that I break out in song after a long day of work. The students are gone and I have the classroom to myself -- I just start singing. I used to sing after classes on Fridays at Teacher's College as well.

Singing picks me up... whether I am singing something from the radio or making up my own words to a tune I already know. I may even add a little dance....

Anyone who has mentioned my singing to me has done it with a smile on their face... as I often don't realize I am doing it. In fact, when they point it out, I often invite them to sing along. I had one EA that would break out in song with me. It helped make the day brighter. It was also hilarious to see our younger EA shake her head at our antics.

Some days ya gotta sing.