I live in the Washington, D.C. area. In this area there are many professionals doing all sorts of seemingly important things. The world is impacted from this area, both positively and negatively. The days are long and the pace is fast. It is very easy to be on the hamster wheel and forget that there is life beyond that wheel.

As humans, we are generally in some sort of fast lane, trying to achieve that next thing. We focus very much on ourselves, what we want, who we want to know, and how we want to be perceived by others. Day by day, moments seem larger than life, interactions seem critical, and decisions seem consequential. And then something jolts us off of that hamster wheel for just long enough to consider the big picture. Sometimes it is a loss of a job, the loss of a lifestyle, or the death of someone close. We begin to ponder that bigger picture, and suddenly the day to day rat-race seems so small and inconsequential.

Everyone understands gravity...our feet are on the ground, we don't fly off into space. I was thinking about we humans and the way that we think. We are so focused on ourselves and what impacts us at the moment. We are also so focused on trying to explain everything. If we can't explain it, then it must not be possible. It is as if there is a gravity that directly impacts our thoughts and thought patterns. The result of this thought gravity is that we become inward focused and myopic to the point of not being able to contemplate the big picture.

As we try to know our current selves, by definition we need to be focusing a bit inward. But, to know our current selves, we need to also see the big picture. Just as the rocket boosters violently thrust the rocket beyond the forces of gravity, so too do we need a radical boost to get us well beyond the reaches of our everyday nearsightedness. When we break out of our limited thought patterns, we are then ready to consider all of the big picture...which ultimately will lead us back to a true understanding of ourselves.

The End

Gravity