Toxic Positivity: The Hashtag Hell You Keep Smiling Through— AUDIO INCLUDED

Is it toxic enough? okay good

You know what’s really toxic?
Not pain.
Not sadness.
Not rage.

It’s this bullshit cheerfulness.
It’s #goodvibesonly plastered like wallpaper over someone’s breakdown.
It’s “Happy Monday, 5 a.m. club, green smoothie, spiritual awakening!”
Meanwhile, your soul’s in a blender.

Let’s be clear.
Nobody talks about mindsets anymore.
They talk about lifestyles.

Woke up at 5? Great. Good for you…
Did you actually do anything meaningful, or just snap a picture of your turmeric latte?

Everyone’s obsessed with the look of discipline—but no one talks about how to get the job done when your mind’s on fire and nothing makes sense.
No one teaches that.
They just show you the packaging.

This Is Not Support. This Is Surveillance.
Smile too little? You’re “negative.”
Cry too much? You’re “manipulative.”
Speak truth? “Yikes, you’re intense.”

So what do we do?
We clean up our suffering.
We dress it in linen.
We hashtag the hell out of our hopelessness until it looks inspiring.

“Pursuit of Happiness” Was Never a Promise
It’s not happiness.
It’s the pursuit of it.

That’s the whole point.

You chase it. You fight for it. You taste it sometimes.
But you never fully hold it.

Yet somehow if you’re not happy all the time, people treat you like a failure.

The Oppression of Cheerfulness

Let’s talk women.
If we’re loud? “Aggressive.”
If we’re quiet? “Depressed.”
If we don’t smile? “Unpleasant.”
If we do smile? “Too much.”

It’s exhausting.

You could be drowning—and someone will tell you to “embrace abundance.”

Emotional Gaslighting, Dressed as Support

“You’re too much.”
“You should be more grateful.”
“Try a gratitude challenge.”
“Have you journaled your triggers today?”

Shut up.

Not every breakdown is a branding opportunity.
Not every wound needs to be alchemised.
Not every day needs a filter.

Healing Culture Is Just Control in a Robe

Healing culture isn’t healing anymore.
It’s another economy.
• Buy the mat.
• Burn the sage.
• Detox your sadness.
• Post your “growth.” post it, post it, if you don’t you are sick in the head in their logic.

If you don’t “look” like you’re healing—guess what? You’re not “doing the work.”

What a joke.

Mindset ≠ Aesthetic

You can be glowing on Instagram and rotting inside.
And you know what? That rot is real. It’s sacred. It’s human.

The system doesn’t want truth. It wants compliance through silence.
It wants you to be “okay” enough to function and spend.

And What About Men?

Men are taught to hold it in.
Be stoic. Be useful. Be strong.

If a man dares to say “I’m scared, I’m not okay”—he’s labelled weak.
He gets no hashtags. He gets no matcha. He gets nothing but shame.

although if used in personal or marital relations it’s suspicious, because you know you guys make things weird sometimes.

Final Thought: Confusion Is Not a Crisis.

Confusion is clarity in disguise.
Sadness is depth unprocessed.
Anger is often just truth denied oxygen.

So no—I will not hashtag my grief.
I will not light a candle for your comfort while I burn in silence.

And if that makes me difficult?
So be it.

Because I’m not here to be palatable.
I’m here to be real.

Part II – The Smiling Guillotine

Let’s stop pretending that positivity is neutral.
It’s not.
It has rules. And those rules are enforced.

Toxic positivity isn’t a glitch in culture—it is the culture.
It’s optimism used like a weapon.
Smile or you’re suspicious.
Complain and you’re the problem.

The Birth of the Smile Economy.

Toxic positivity started when emotion became a commodity.

Sadness doesn’t sell.
Confusion doesn’t trend.
But slap a “you got this!” on burnout and suddenly you’re marketable.

We began branding joy.
We packaged peace.
And before long, being genuinely okay wasn’t enough—you had to perform being okay.

Who Benefits?

Let’s not be naive.

Companies sell products. Influencers sell lifestyles.
But the real profit? Comes from your silence.

A workforce that doesn’t complain is a dream.
A society that pretends everything’s fine? Even better.

The more you smile, the more you post, the more you comply.

“Good Vibes Only” – Or Else

You want to talk about censorship?

Forget governments—look at wellness culture.

If you’re angry, people flinch.
If you’re grieving, they look away.
If you say, “I’m not okay,” they say, “but look at all you have!”

Toxic positivity gaslights reality.
It punishes depth.
It creates an emotional caste system—where only the cheerful are seen as “healed.”

You’re Not Negative. You’re Just Honest.

Let’s be real:

You’re not “low energy”—you’re tired of pretending.
You’re not “dramatic”—you’re feeling something they’re too afraid to name.
You’re not “difficult”—you’re just awake.

Toxic positivity tells you to fix yourself even when nothing’s broken.
It doesn’t want healing.
It wants obedience.

The Real Casualty? Self-Trust

When you’re sad but told to smile,
When you’re breaking but told to “stay grateful,”
When you’re grieving and handed a vision board—

You start doubting your instincts.
You start muting your own alarm bells.
You start smiling while dying inside.

And then? They call that progress.

Final Truth: You Were Never Broken

Toxic positivity assumes you’re a problem that needs to be fixed.
But you’re not.

You’re complex.
You’re messy.
You’re not here to be “aesthetic.”
You’re here to be alive.

So cry if you need to.
Fume if you must.
Question everything.

Because the only thing more dangerous than sadness…
is a forced smile that hides it.