Is there positive obsession?

But obsession is a powerful and potentially positive mental state. An obsession, by definition, is something that excessively preoccupies the mind. As a mental health professional, would I recommend that a person become obsessed? Absolutely, if that obsession is an obsession to improve.

What is positive obsession Octavia Butler?

I was interested in Butler’s ideas about writing before I even read any of her work. The first is called “Positive Obsession,” and it tells the story of how Butler became a writer. Obsession, she writes, is simply about not being able to stop. “Obsession can be a useful tool if it’s positive obsession.”

Who wrote positive obsession?

Octavia E. Butler
(Courtesy of Laurence Schwinger’s website.) Fifteen years ago this month, Octavia E. Butler unexpectedly and tragically died at the age of 58, following a fall outside her home in Seattle.

Where does Bloodchild take place?

Tlic planet
“Bloodchild” describes the unusual bond between a race of insect-like lifeforms called the Tlic and a colony of humans who have escaped Earth and settled on the Tlic planet.

What is another name for obsession?

What is another word for obsession?

preoccupation	fixation
appetency	preoccupation with
mania for	obsession with
grabber	pastime
idé	cacoethes

What should I be obsessed with?

6 Recommended Obsessions for a Better Life

• Be Obsessed with your Family. Those who obsess over their families are those who uncontrollably and unconditionally love them.
• Be Obsessed with your Values.
• Be Obsessed with your Health.
• Be Obsessed with Learning.
• Be Obsessed with Making a Difference.
• Be Obsessed with Balance.

What jobs did Octavia Butler have?

I wanted to be a writer.” Despite her success with the short stories, Butler struggled to get other stories published. She would rise at two A.M. every morning to write and then went to work in a series of odd jobs, including a telemarketer, potato chip inspector, dishwasher, and warehouse worker.

Why does Gatoi let Gan keep the gun?

Feeling that he has no ability to choose the life he wants for himself, suicide becomes an assertion of his autonomy. After deciding not to use the rifle to kill himself, he nevertheless forces T’Gatoi to let it remain in the house, despite the fact that it is illegal and frightens her to do so, saying “Leave it here!

What is the message of Bloodchild?

‘Bloodchild’ is about a male who becomes pregnant with an alien race. The story is representative of Butler’s oeuvre, or collection of works, insofar as it explores the themes of species interdependence, domination, and gender perversions.

Is Positive Obsession dangerous?

Positive obsession is dangerous. It’s about not being able to stop at all” (“Positive Obsession” 133). Butler is talking about positive obsession, which is something I relate to, but this sense of not being able to stop is also one that applies to negative obsessions.

What is an an obsession?

An obsession, according to my old Random House dictionary, is “the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.” Obsession can be a useful tool if it’s positive obsession. Using it is like aiming carefully in archery.

Would you recommend a person become obsessed with something?

But obsession is a powerful and potentially positive mental state. An obsession, by definition, is something that excessively preoccupies the mind. As a mental health professional, would I recommend that a person become obsessed? Absolutely, if that obsession is an obsession to improve.

What are some good examples of obsessive mindsets?

Other examples of these include the ones I wrote on geophagia and the uncanny valley. In these cases, Octavia Butler’s “Positive Obsession” is spot-on in its analysis of the better side of obsessive mindsets: “I saw positive obsession as a way of aiming yourself, your life, at your chosen target” (129).