BIG RE-REC here!!! Here's my two cents that is basically exactly what was already said...
This is absolutely one of those classic HR/corporate-speak things that sounds like utter horseshit meant to pacify workers/vulnerable people into compliance/submission to their conditions
but sitting with it, I had a similar realization that maybe the first HR rep had positive intent when they brought it to their office, because trying to live through this ideal has brought me closer to myself and others! It really can make working and living with others easier!
when i worked at the Apple Store / Genius Bar in college, we were trained on "assuming positive intent" from customers and peers. at the time, when i was a shithead 20-year-old, i thought this phrase was such bullshit. of course i can tell when someone has malicious intent, why not respond in kind! but now that i'm a bit older, i've realized the real wisdom behind the idea "assume positive intent" is that, when faced with interpersonal conflict, it's better to take the path of least resistance and keep your cool.
for example, if i'm getting kind of annoyed with someone at work and i want to write a snarky email, i find it best to walk away from the keyboard and write my response when i'm feeling less activated.
the result is that i can feel good about how i handle my feelings, i reflect better on other people, and i'm being an actual grown up. ;~)
Feb 19, 2025
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when i worked at the Apple Store / Genius Bar in college, we were trained on "assuming positive intent" from customers and peers. at the time, when i was a shithead 20-year-old, i thought this phrase was such bullshit. of course i can tell when someone has malicious intent, why not respond in kind! but now that i'm a bit older, i've realized the real wisdom behind the idea "assume positive intent" is that, when faced with interpersonal conflict, it's better to take the path of least resistance and keep your cool.
for example, if i'm getting kind of annoyed with someone at work and i want to write a snarky email, i find it best to walk away from the keyboard and write my response when i'm feeling less activated.
the result is that i can feel good about how i handle my feelings, i reflect better on other people, and i'm being an actual grown up. ;~)
Feb 19, 2025
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I'm sure there's an actual name for this but I'm blanking on it at the moment. I try to live under the idea that we're all one being. That in everybody is a piece of me, and in me a piece of everyone else.
I guess it's like an extrapolation of 'the golden rule'. But I think to myself like, if I was being ignorant, I'd want someone to have a conversation with me and help me understand where I was wrong. If I was having a bad day and was visibly frustrated in line, I'd want to have someone stop and ask me how I was doing.
I think most negative people are just hurt. The longer you go without talking about what's bothering you, the more bitter you get. Most people, no matter how they're acting, change when you ask them if they're ok. Most of the time (I'll admit, there's some exceptions lol) its better to be sympathetic rather than defensive.
It's easy to get heated but it takes a lot of patience to really try to understand. Stranger or not, I do my best to help rather than provoke. We've all got our bad days, but that doesn't mean we aren't deserving of compassion.
Jan 28, 2025
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I was going through the Ignatian approach to education today (adapted from the Spiritual Exercises for those keeping track at home) and this tenet is just so good.
St. Ignatius says that a person, “ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor’s statement than to condemn it.Further, if one cannot interpret it favorably, one should ask how the other means it. If the meaning is wrong, one should correct the person with love; if this is not enough, one should search out every appropriate means through which, by understanding the statement in a good way, it may be saved.”
This is very Hanlon’s razor (never attribute to malice what you can attribute to stupidity/ignorance) and I just feel like having a curious posture like this is a major slay and makes us better people
Mar 7, 2024
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I know slavoj zizek is a fucking loser now, but his movie A Pervert's Guide to Ideology was the first piece of media that began to rub away the sheen/shellac of pretense that the world operates smoothly. It was my first time really engaging with a Marxian analysis and sitting with it. I was in high school, and it set me up to care about critical theory. From this movie, I'd read Mark Fisher's really quick book "Capitalist Realism: is there no alternative?" Fisher grounds a lot of his theory in culture/media in a very similar way to Zizek.
After that, I'd follow recommendations made by others in the thread!
Jun 18, 2024
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1. Scroll the "everyone" feed (almost completely ignore that home/friends page)
2. Like gratuitously
3. Follow people who post things you like
4. I try to be brave and comment when feeling moved
I don't search or look for anything in particular, personally, unless I'm about to post something and curious if others have done so already. Just let the river float by and enjoy the ride
Feb 8, 2025
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To drink wine and feel, uncontrollably, in passionate desire -- but know it is only for a brief time
The sad truth is that sometimes feelings are bottled up in maladaptive ways. And what drinking can be is a way to open the door to what's hidden from view even of the self. And to step through the threshold and fall down the bottomless pit of desire and amorousness for the world and connection. To feel the unbearable joy of breathing the energy of my compatriots, my comrades. Why does this door only unlock with this dumb and poisoning key
Mono no aware meets Audre Lorde's uses of the erotic
Feb 13, 2025