Reality and how we perceive reality often have very little to do with each other.
On some days I am anxious about everything, very sure that something somewhere will go terribly wrong, and that it's probably going to be my fault. On other days, sometimes the very next day, I wake up with a smile, high-five myself in the mirror, and can't wait to attack the day, because I know it'll be awesome.
What has changed in reality between those two days? Very little. Work is still the same, and so is my private life. My loved ones are the same, and the world normally hasn't had some major paradigm shift overnight. Although there have been a few of those over the last few years, haven't there?
So reality is more or less the same, but the way I see it and feel about it is massively different.
The same is true for how I perceive myself. On some days, I feel like I'm no good at anything, that I can't get on top of managing life, and that I'm going to die sad and alone somehow.
On other days, I feel like a badass. Rocking my job, my creative projects, with an amazing family and friends that I love and who love me, a beautiful place to live, and overall winning at life. Rainbows, unicorns.
The difference between those two people? None. I’m still the same person, with the same memories, experiences, mistakes, successes, family, and friends.
Our brains have the wonderfully horrible capacity to look at the exact same person, and see two (or more) wildly different people, depending on the state it’s in.
Badass-creative-rock-star-super-woman vs. Mediocre-but-getting-by-unfit-aging-person. Marvel, take note!
But fortunately, our brains are a bit flexybendy when it comes to these things. Thank you, neuroplasticity! That means it’s not set in its ways, and we can practice seeing the world with different eyes.
Which is precisely what we’ll do for this week’s creative prompt, so stay tuned…
And sometimes, a good night's sleep can change a lot of our point of view and help us with difficult choices. Been there, the sleep-deprived week, the spiral of negativity, all gone after 8-9 hours of blissfull sleep. 🧡