The American psychotherapist and mystic, Suzanne Segal, writes,
'the negative is usually taken to be the truth. After all, the negative is so compelling and seems so deep.
The positive is regarded as superficial and temporary, but, ah, the negative! When it arises, we believe we're really in the presence of truth.
Connecting with others in [the] Western therapeutic culture is often based on a sharing of problems. When someone refuses to reveal what is most difficult in their lives, they are said to be 'withholding' or 'cut- off' or 'untrustworthy'.
When their problems are known, however, they are thought to be revealing the truth about themselves.
This overvaluing of the negative is rampant in our culture. Just about every person who sits across from me in my office and speaks to me about their lives believes that what is negative about them is most true. They are convinced that they carry something rotten at their core, that they are bad deep down, and that they will always return to the negative, which is the real bottom-line.
This is good!
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