Have you ever seen the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know"? It is a metaphysical journey into quantum physics - by way of our own life experiences and how we perceive reality. It is truly an adventure - in the sense that it addresses a journey we all experience - in parameters that perhaps we just don't realize or at a magnitude we can't even comprehend.
In many ways, it's about life being so much more - and so much less - than we envision. In the grand scheme of things, we are but a perceptual conundrum, a conglomeration of cells ever-changing in a stew of homeostatic mechanisms. We are just a bunch of electrons, protons, and neutrons - a cloud of electrical charges separated by huge chasms of virtually empty space and nothingness. There is so little true "matter" to our being, but we perceive so much more. We live on the quantum edge - of reality, of living, of experiencing, of perceiving, of existing.
There was a time when I thought that there was but one reality. It exists as it "is", and we exist within that world and experience it in but one way. Blue is blue, right? Vertical is vertical? Well, maybe I hadn't simplified it quite that much, but I certainly didn't think there was that much difference from person to person. Man oh man, was I wrong on that one! You mean to tell me that there isn't just "one" reality?
Our reality is based on our perceptions. Our perceptual mechanisms are driven by our experiences. We collect the data from our surroundings that we want to collect, and we act on it accordingly. Humans are driven by their past experiences and their perceived competence and self-image (or lack thereof). Two people could be standing in exactly the same place, witnessing the same scenario unfold before them - yet their perceptions could conjure up completely different emotional and physical responses. Even something totally benign could create something utterly diabolical in one person's mind ... and something ecstatic in someone else's mind ... all in the same moment of perception.
Sometimes the simplest moments, the simplest words, can have the greatest meaning.
And sometimes - you realize that perhaps your words have more impact than you ever thought possible.
I've always believed in being true to myself - or certainly striving to live to that standard. In the midst of all that, as a person and as a professional, as a friend and as a mentor, I've tried to simply lead by example. To me, it's been about maintaining my integrity, my beliefs ... and expressing them succinctly along the way.
In recent days, I've discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) some aspects of my thought processes that I've not seen since college days. No, that doesn't mean reverting back to the "actions" of college life (not that I'd survive that nowadays anyways!). It means having a firm reawakening of those philosophical (and perhaps modestly idealistic) beliefs that found flight in the collegiate environment. It was a time of creativity, of strong beliefs, of being passionate about those beliefs, and perhaps even espousing them in whatever way possible.
The month of March has some very important attributes tied to it. March was originally the first month of the Roman Calendar - before the winter months of January and February were added. Those who know me realize that I could do without winter at all ... so I think that March is as good a starting point as any.
We now have Daylight Savings Time beginning in March - and as you all know, I definitely have a strong appreciation for sunshine!
March 14 is Albert Einstein's birthday. Given that Einstein was one of the great thinkers of our time, then I certainly appreciate March even more. March 14 is also Pi Day - a day to celebrate the mathematical constant pi (which, I will have you know, is 3.1415926535 ... without looking at Google. Why do I know that? Read the previous posts!). I am still not quite sure why we'd celebrate pi ... unless, of course, I am a circle, and then it makes sense of my world.
Isaac Newton - physicist, mathematician, and arguably the greatest scientist the world has known. If you've taken high school science, you've been exposed to the ways of Newton. And if you look back to yesteryear, and revisit those golden memories of pendulums, bunsen burners, and trajectories, you're sure to unearth a thought or two on Newton's Laws of Motion.
Math and science got me through high school. Though I love the process of writing now, in those days writing was something to be done only because it had to be done. It was about writing book reports, or comparing and contrasting protagonists in Shakespeare's plays. No wonder I didn't enjoy putting pen to paper! Math and science - my bread and butter. My meal ticket - or so I thought. At one time, I was going to become a mechanical engineer ... which evolved into an automotive designer ... which then turned into physical therapist (and yes, there are some common threads throughout - best left to another digression here!). But suffice it to say, I was comfortable with Newton's ideas - back in the day.
... to take a look around us. Be honest. What do you see?
Do you see a "peaches and cream" existence?
Or do you see the current "state of the union" in all it's glory?
Two phrases harken out to me these days ...
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" ... and "If you do what you've done, you'll get what you've gotten". Oh yes, and let's add the Santayana favorite - "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
Sunshine. It never ceases to amaze me.
There is an inherent beauty and power to the sun and it's shining prominence in our galaxy. Sure, there is the perspective of the awesome energy produced by the center of our universe. Yes, it fuels the growth of the flora and fauna of the earth. But there is something so much more elemental about it.
Sunshine. A glimmer of it in the wintertime - and we smile with it's radiant warmth upon us. Having spent many years living in Canada before moving to Texas, I truly understand why "Seasonal Affective Disorder" exists. A long hard winter without the sun can leave you without energy and depressed. It takes but a moment in the sun, a brief fleeting moment of sunshine, to get us to relax, to let the stresses of our days ease away ... to smile. A hard day will always be better with the sun shining down upon us. The world suddenly becomes a better place ...
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.