Here’s something to ponder: “Listening to Complainers is Bad for Your Brain.” The article summarized a book which sites “reasearch” saying that
exposure to 30 minutes or more of negativity–including viewing such material on TV–actually peels away neurons in the brain’s hippocampus.
As a worrier and a misanthrope, negativity is almost my natural state. But my inner hippie wants to change, and now my inner scientist has some proof that
Our actions and states of mind matter…Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is the supreme creative act.(Ram Dass, via Mystic Mamma)
While the dirtiness continues to bother me, there is something to be said for remaining calm in the face of all the things that a hippie is prone to worry about…