Excellent piece! I've begun seeing other articles similar to this, calling out this over-privileged ideology. Some call it "toxic positivity," and I think that's a good term for it.

I come from the Wiccan tradition, which New Age and self-help "coaches" draw heavily from. Yes, we believe that our thoughts help create our reality, but we also know there are very real systems of oppression at work - we still remember the Burning Times. That's why it is a core tenet of our Path to fight injustice and oppression, not to ignore it in hopes of some perfect afterlife, or in the mistaken belief that we can just "create our own reality" like The Secret.

And we understand that humans - especially humans who have been wounded - have parts of our personality that we might not want to acknowledge, or that society tells us are unacceptable. We strive to embrace and integrate that "shadow" part of ourselves, to understand and accept our anger and other emotions we're told aren't OK.

Honestly, any "spiritual belief" that is inaccessible to a vast majority of people, that ignores injustice, and supports the capitalist system is not a healthy path. It's just propaganda to sell more books or workshops.

Thank you for writing this! And blessed be!