Darkness cannot drive out darkness.

Here is an inscription I found at the MLK memorial in Washington DC.

It really hit home for me- both personally and with what I am doing right now with Positive Community Norms. Positive psychology was also part of what we addressed in my Leadership Academy, and I found it really fascinating.

This quote really speaks to me, inciting a strong visual image in my mind: sunlight streaming in a window, lighting up a dark room.

In my current work with alcohol prevention I am learning and using a Positive Community Norms framework to form messages and media pieces. The first of the seven principles used to create the framework is to "Be Positive."

At a conference last week with folks from across the state who are also using this framework, we were asked, now that we have been using this framework for a year, "how does being positive affect our work?"

The responses were interesting. Some talked about how it makes their work fun. How it has spread into other aspects of their life. How it has changed the way they speak. It challenges us to question our perceptions.

Here's how being positive looks with what I am doing: underage alcohol use can be a depressing topic, but when you start to address the statistics by looking at how many are not using, it becomes inspiring. In our county, and I am pretty certain it holds true across the state and nation, MOST teens are not using alcohol. The majority of teens are having hobbies, playing sports, having fun with friends and family, all while not using alcohol.

"It takes more effort to accurately perceive the Positive in a situation that it does to passively join the misperceptions of a negative culture." (Linkenbach, Seeds of Fire, Roots of Hope, 2010.)

Back to my image of light streaming in through a window, lighting a dark room. Here, life can grow. I picture a plant by the window, lush and green, reaching towards the light.

Only light can drive out darkness.