Gratitude: It’s funny, it’s true, what feels uncomfortable?

I saw the funny Youtube video below called Everything is Amazing and Nobody’s Happy about how people (implied young people) complain rather than appreciate the wonders of modern life. In one way it resonated. One of my personal favorite gratitude exercises is to pretend I am a woman from the Middle Ages, say 10th century, who has been magically transported to my current life.

So why did I feel some discomfort with this video? Watch it and see if it strikes you the same way.



I finally figured out my discomfort: the guy was complaining about complainers! Old saying: When you point a finger at someone, watch where the other three fingers are pointing. It was the energy of that complaining coming through. Ironically, complaining is about ingratitude!

A lot of humor is about separation, seeing ourselves as different from and superior to those other people, and humor is probably a lot better way to channel anger than many methods. It reminded me of the subtleties of communication, how easy it is to deny intent because of the words' content. I'm sure you, too, have had apologies that don't feel like apologies, and this can be part of passive aggression.

I don't think it was his words. Only 7% of information comes from words, 38% comes from tone of voice and 55% is nonverbal. We pick up these cues subconsciously.

Could he have made his point with humor and a positive energy? I think so. Lots of humor is fueled by anger, but not all. Think about some comedians who are funny but don’t come off as condescending or angry. Bill Cosby and Ellen DeGeneres come to mind. Their underlying perspective is "Aren't we funny?" But it seems to me that a warm appreciation of the human condition wasn’t behind his spiel, but anger and a put down.

Can negative energy bring about something as positive as positive energy? I think of Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is the message." I'm not sure who said "Who you are scream s so loudly I can't hear what you say." The energy infusing the message is 93% of the message, so in communication, where we are coming from really determines where we are going.

Hedy

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