Astro Iris Let’s talk about sex! 🤣… Aaah, sorry (maybe some other time). I meant toxicity!
By definition, toxic means anything that produces toxins—anything that can poison a living environment and requires detox to get back to normal, autonomous functioning (biological and natural, if you like).
The exact, official definition? I invite the curious ones to look it up yourselves 🤭.
It seems there’s a one-size-fits-all diagnosis for all of humanity with this label we slap on people’s foreheads (read: anyone we interact with), on situations, relationships, food, and all sorts of actions we take. How do we spot something—or someone—we don’t vibe with, don’t share the same “ideals,” dislike, despise, disagree with, criticize, or who just doesn’t please us? Boom, the label appears: Toxic!
It’s starting to get a bit worrying because we let ourselves get sucked so easily into buzzwords whose meaning we don’t even grasp. That’s how this modern catch-all diagnosis for anything and anyone popped up: toxic.
Good news: anything or anyone that doesn’t actually poison your living system—if you don’t need detox treatment—isn’t toxic. It’s just a handy excuse we use to avoid looking at ourselves and to find someone else to blame for whatever mess we’re in.
Yeah, it can be super tough to ditch that excuse, because it forces us to do something about ourselves—to change the situation from the inside out.
Now that we know this, we can start taking baby steps (or bigger ones for the brave) to examine our own values and beliefs that we keep feeding nonstop. And remember: anything consumed in excess can turn into a source of toxicity. Constant alcohol? Long-term toxicity. A serious dose can poison the body instantly, leading to coma—and yep, that needs detox. Too much sugar? Same deal, long-term effects. Heck, even a bee 🐝 or wasp sting can trigger an instant allergic reaction requiring urgent medical detox from a form of poisoning.
That’s what real toxicity looks like. Examples abound.
Everything else that just causes us discomfort (usually emotional) in situations, relationships, people, partners, spouses, parents, kids, etc.? That’s not actual toxicity. It’s more likely the result of practiced versions of ignoring, tolerating, and adapting to life (where you can’t control or change things externally, but you can control your attitude). All of it can be adjusted without attacking others with this “toxicity” venom.
Let’s think & ask: “Could we be toxic to others too?!” When we turn the spotlight on ourselves, our personal perception of the other person shifts big time 😊. And this applies to any choice we make in life.
Ah, if we choose to use the term metaphorically, that’s a whole different story—but it’s best to announce your intent right from the start.
For example, and dead serious: in my case, I get an allergic skin-itch reaction the moment manele music hits my eardrums. Over time, I’ve learned to either keep an “emergency remedy” on hand 🤣 or remind myself that the only real control is how I choose to adapt to the context—and poof, the itching vanishes. There you go, it’s public now! 😂🤍 So, manele isn’t toxic; I just have a heightened sensitivity with allergy risk to that sound. And that’s okay.
Beautiful people that you all are, let’s leave toxicity to its real role in living systems. And remember: anything that bugs us about the outside world is actually about us. Once such a situation pops up, the solution—for resolution, understanding, and integration—is also within us. Give yourself even a tiny chance, and over time you’ll climb levels of growth you never even imagined.
From today on, toxicity is no longer about people—and that gives others a fair shot to be seen differently… or not seen at all! 😊
We’re different in so many ways but identical in our essence—and definitely not toxic! ♥️
