The future is a fantasy. It’s out of our current control.
And yet we still plan and imagine it all the time. Many very learned people from philosophers to religious leaders to physicists believe that we somehow create the future by imagining what we want to occur or what we think will occur.
This is such a crazy idea to me.
In the last few years, somehow human scientists noticed that particles acted differently when we watched them from when we didn’t. What? The act of watching something changes it? We do know that we as humans and our companion animals change our behavior when we’re watched. But how wild is it that it is also true with the simplest particles?
But let’s get back to the future. So, if somehow, our collective imagination and thoughts and hopes and fears create physical reality, that’s kind of a big deal. It really makes you think about what you think about.
I saw a meme this morning of a man leaping up in the air at the beach. He was labeled 2022. There was a German Shepherd that was going to bite his crotch as he landed and it was labeled 2023. Remember when we felt hopeful at the beginning of each new year? We wanted to be better, do better, make changes, and try something different. Now we all just brace for impact and hope like hell that we make it through the next year.
My New Year’s resolution is going to be to take back my own reality. If the spiritual leaders and the physicists both think that we create our world by what we think about, that our beliefs somehow shape the physical universe, I am going to have a little discipline about what I think about. I’m not going to read all the scary news about who knows what- the new cold war, the environment, the economy collapsing, and of course, infectious diseases, the world's new favorite monster under the bed.
I am going to filter my thoughts. I am going to focus on what I really want in small stepping-stone goals and also big grandiose visions. I am going to fill my internal screen with good things for me and my loved ones. My dog thriving, my husband happy and healthy, me making progress on my goals, and feeling satisfied with my life. That’s what I’m going to keep returning my attention to again and again. If I notice that I’m worrying about things that are beyond my control, I’m going to take myself in hand and tell myself, “Hey, that’s not in your control. Worrying about it won’t do anything at all except make you feel bad. Let it go.”
There are so many lovely things in this life to focus on. My toes, warm in their wool socks. The coziness of my dog’s armpits. How hugging my husband feels. How delicious food is. Hot showers, clouds, helping people, giving compliments. All these things feel so good and are nice to think about, and things that I want to perpetuate with whatever small influence I have on our shared reality.
Sending you all the best,
Sarah