LIFE AS WE KNOW IT – the EPIPHANY space
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Epiphanies happen when they happen.
You can’t schedule one or plan for its arrival; if you could, you’d plan a big party ~ but the big reveal cannot be anticipated (because it wouldn’t be an epiphany, would it?) or created …
They happen when they happen, and you’ll know it when you see them be-dazzle!
There is an apparent downside to the epiphany moment because it brings some things into fresh perspective, to realize some things we believed weren’t true or weren’t as essential as we thought they might have been.
There is, for a short while, a state of funk – confusion and some fatigue, I suspect, as we regain our footing, our sea legs, and move ahead with the benefit of what we’ve learned, what that epiphany has taught us.
They aren’t tiny bits of learning or a surprise ah+ha moment. In my experience, they show up when least expected. They startle, amaze, shock, or rattle the foundation of some belief system.
When we realize that thought, idea or lesson creates a complex puzzle, we understand at that moment that many things that have gone before in our lives suddenly connect in a new unique way.
It isn’t patentable, but you feel like a new invention of yourself in the short blip of time that is that moment.
Fantastic as that feeling, that moment of unrestrained awakening/euphoria, feels to have – watching that magic manifest in someone else, it’s their moment of climbing an emotional and/or intellectual mountain top, is exhilarating. I had one of those recently. It was good for me and great for them – thrilling to see and precious to share. Lucky them. Lucky me.
Moments like this are evidence that whatever we thought we knew about something, there is usually much more to learn and experience. Sometimes that feels like a tightrope walking experience without a net, but more often, it’s moving a little bit out of your comfort zone – not from conservative prude to wild child, not from pauper to prince or poverty to lottery jackpot. In what I witnessed the other day, ‘better than that.’
Our ability to use our brain – intellectually and emotionally, is probably the least known part of our world to explore. I realize exploring oceans and space in search of extraordinary discoveries about life and our planet by drilling deep into the earth than ever before will yield massive improvements in our quality of life and care of our planet. Some will be confusing at first, when people will say, “Hmm, isn’t that interesting …”
Some will ah+ha moments, and some will rise to epiphany status.
Still, I don’t believe those discoveries can yield as many human life-altering and extending breakthroughs as we’ll eventually learn from a deeper exploration of our brains. I’d prefer we accelerate the learning of how our brain works to improve and prolong healthy vibrant life …
Because science has barely touched this area, understanding how the brain works have primarily been focused on treating disorders and illness, and so much is unknown. That is a great new frontier, something science can explore, but so can we all do our part. I’m not talking about drugs, psychedelics or any particular therapy, though I don’t discount work being done in those areas.
What I am driving at is this – we can explore our behaviour, our interactions, and our relationships to incredible depths of understanding if we only try …
Reader feedback:
Thanks for today's, Sunday, musing! In response to the Mel Robbins Ted talk, who I have been following for quite some time, I was listening to the this Dr. Rangan Chatterjee podcast...love listening to him! My best wishes for a healthy and peaceful 2023. Enjoy the rest of your day!, MVW, Kingston, ON
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