About negativity

I had an interesting private comment about yesterday’s “This Week in Ontario Edublogs” post. It was the 485th time I’d written that blog post and the first time that I’d had something of this ilk.

The question was about why I chose to include only positive blog posts on Fridays and why my thoughts on them are supportive and positive in themselves.

I didn’t see that one coming.

But it did get me thinking and that, of course, generated a blog post.

I guess in its simplest terms, blogging is my happy space. I feed on the learning shared by others and like to think that I’ve grown and learned myself as a result. If those are the parameters, then it leaves no room for negativity. And, I don’t apologize for it.

With a background in computer science and education, there is no room to sit still. You need to be learning and moving forward. I’ve always had this mindset and it’s served me well.

I write the posts first as a selfish act to take their message and share my thoughts. I like to think that it amplifies their voice and that I’m that much better for reading and thinking about it. In my world, there is no room for negativity.

I’m guessing that I started on this path with my father who was always so positive in conversations and interactions with people. When I was older, we talked about it and he gave me the advice that “you do well when you make other people better”. Maybe that should be in the teacher handbook. That’s what we do. The fact that I’m reading these type of educational blogs means that I’m not alone. You know who you are.

He also advised to shut out the negative – whether it be voices or actions because they only serve to drag you down to their level. He said that you’ll never have to apologize for doing that because they’d never be in a position to apologize to you for how they made you feel.

Goodness knows that there are plenty of opportunities these days to be negative but at what expense?

I choose to do what I do. I make no apologies for that. It makes me feel good and I hope that it returns the feeling to others.

I so value the variety and positive messages that come from Ontario Educational Bloggers. I always have and I suspect that I always will.