Watch: "Nothing Happens for a Reason" (Patreon)
Content
Joshua and Ryan discuss how to identify and appropriately address toxic positivity with author, podcaster, and professor Kate Bowler, and they answer the following questions:
How did megachurches arise in the United States? (00:00)
What is a “prosperity church”? (05:32)
What is “experiential capitalism”? (16:02)
What is “sanctification”? (28:55)
What do you do about the overwhelming expectation that surviving something traumatic, like cancer, should lead you to a joyous epiphany and a constant positive outlook on life? (47:31)
Where do you draw the line between genuine self-improvement and toxic positivity? (54:23)
How does the toxic positivity in the U.S. compare with other nations? (1:02:55)
How do we deal with the frustration that arises when people insist that our trauma is a gift? (1:07:08)
How do I balance positivity and disappointment? (1:11:54)
LINKS
Article: I Don’t Plan to Do a Bucket List
Book: Blessed
Book: Everything Happens for a Reason
Book: Love People, Use Things
Book: No Cure for Being Human
Essay: 100 Days with No Goals
Instagram: Jordan Moore
Instagram: Podcast Shawn
Instagram: Danny Unknwn
Podcast: Everything Happens
Podcast: Lori Gottlieb
Podcast: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
Resources: The Minimalists
Subscribe: The Minimalists
Text: 937-202-4654
Tour: The Minimalists
Watch: Less Is Now
Website: Kate Bowler
Website: Richard Rohr
Website: Zen Habits
MAXIMS
“Self-pity is the bedrock of toxic certainty.” —Joshua Fields Millburn
“When it’s not everything and it’s not nothing, you must then ask yourself, ‘What is possible today?’” —Kate Bowler
“Our emotions are mountains: the peaks create the valleys.” —Ryan Nicodemus
This Maximal episode corresponds with Minimal episode 304.