The Butterfly Effect

Yes, that was the title of an Ashton Kutcher movie, and no this is not about that or anything to do with time travel.

I recently finished The Element: How finding your passion changes everything by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. (and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking their passion in life). Toward the end of the book he talks about conditions for growth.  When the conditions are right we flourish, and when they are not we protect ourselves.  We can move between the two states like a flower that blooms every spring and returns to the ground during the winter. (Hopefully we don't move between them that often though.)

This started me thinking about what happens in that protection mode. 

There are times when it feels like protecting ourselves is what we need to do in order to grow, and that is OK.  Pulling inward to contemplate your passion and doing some soul searching is sometimes exactly what is needed. However . . .

If we remain in protection mode for too long, eventually our growth dies and we cease to flourish.

I know it's a trite analogy, to compare this to a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, but it doesn't make it any less true.  The caterpillar needs the protection of the cocoon to grow into the butterfly.  That protection is part of the right conditions for growth.  However, if it stays in that cocoon for too long it will no longer be able to grow, constrained by the silky threads.  In fact, if it fails to break free from that protection that allowed it to grow, it will not just stop growing . . . it will die. 

This is also true for us.  OK, maybe not literally, but we can kill our passions by protecting ourselves for too long.

Unlike the dead butterfly in the cocoon, we have the ability to reignite our passions simply by moving into the right conditions for growth.  Even if that passion "died" in our childhood, as an adult we can find it again and allow it to flourish.

Your passion may not be the same as your career, so don't try to limit yourself to thinking of it in those terms.  For many people who have found their passion, moving it into a realm that comes with externally imposed deadlines and obligations lessens the enjoyment.  Sometimes your passion is something that cannot sustain an acceptable level of income, and sometimes it can.  It's different for everyone. 

The one thing that is the same is that finding the "thing" that you are passionate about and allowing it to occupy space in your life, giving part of yourself over to it, can make every aspect of your life better. 

My passion is writing.  

I don't yet know where it will take me, but I do know that by embracing writing as a part of my life I can create a passionate life.

How about you?  Do you want a passionate life or a protected one?

Getting Past the No to Reach the Know

I've been reading Brian Greene's book The Elegant Universe in which he discusses superstrings, hidden dimensions and the quest for the ultimate theory.  He provides a very good explanation of some very heady theories and hard science in a manner that is easily digestible by the layman.  If you are interested in this type of information, I highly recommend the book.  However, that is not the point of this post.

What struck me early on in my reading was how scientists do not let the seemingly impossible stop them from moving forward.  In fact, finding something in the universe that doesn't appear possible actually increases their desire to move forward.

When Einstein realized that Newton's laws were incompatible with his new theory, he didn't give up and say, "Well, Newton was really smart and figured this out long ago, he must be right I must be wrong." He pushed past the "no" that came from Newton until he knew what was really going on in the universe (then he continued to push past his own theories as well). Furthermore, as modern scientists run up against theories that are seemingly incompatible with Einstein's, they do the same thing.

How many of us can say in our lives that when we encounter a "no" we push past it and keep moving forward?

Many times we hold on to old theories of the way things are just because it's what someone "older and wiser" told us. We have to understand that what they are telling us is what was true for them, but not necessarily what has to be true for us.  For each of us, reality is shaped by what we believe, and holding on to someone else's theory is holding on to their reality. 

I'm not suggesting that you ignore the "no" but instead look at it as a sign to reconsider what you are thinking and not let the "no" stop you in your tracks. Take a deeper look at it to find the truth for yourself.  Break apart the argument for "no", look at its components and study what would happen if you rearranged them.

Yes, sometimes reaching the "know" takes work, but it's worth it.