I often read and hear the phrase ‘the world outside’ in reference to people who are staid and settled in their behaviors and modes of thinking and need to ‘explore’ a little bit - to have new experiences and stretch the boundaries of their comfort zone, so to speak.  And it sounds great, really, but why is it that givers of advice seem to believe that the only way to experience wonderful new (and occasionally frightening) things is outside, in the world at large?  Why not ‘think’ about the outside world instead and explore the world as it exists inside our minds?

Okay, okay - maybe I sound a bit of a hypocrite here since I find most of my writing inspiration by walking around in the world and soaking up the accumulated micro-realities I see as I wander about.  But really, I’m actually ‘lost inside my thoughts’ most of the time that I’m ‘lost on a walk’, so in essence I guess I am probably thinking more than walking...which is probably why I so often get disoriented and/or stumble into random people and objects, I suppose.  But I digress, so back to thinking...

Just yesterday, I had a thought that was at once inspiring and horrifying - the world is really nothing more than an amalgam of the lives and experiences of everybody; kind of like a huge ‘picture frame’ that holds a living masterpiece.  And, if this is true, then every individual is the sole owner of a small personal ‘picture frame’ through which they view the world.  But what if there was a way to distill all occurrences into a personal picture frame, and if this sum of all life events was either a net positive or a net negative, imagine the following:

(+) If the frame captured only the unbridled positivism of life - the first kiss, receiving a perfect exam score, high school graduation, Olympic triumph, Presidential victory, etc - then the beholder would perpetually exist in the ether of euphoria where everything is a positive and anything is possible.

(-) If, on the other hand, the frame contained a diorama of life’s disappointments and sorrows - events such as being fired, getting dumped, being cheated in business, plane crashes, wars and the deaths of loved ones - then the world would be a consolidation of misery and dispair that was so frightful as to make one wish for the respite of death.

These are pretty awe-inspiring thoughts, if I do say so myself.  And now, consider the fact that all of this is real - that each of us has a personal ‘picture frame’ and that it, as our private window on the world, it contains exactly what we think it should in the balance that we decide.  In short, our minds tell us what we see in the world outside, don’t they?

Back to thinking about the world though - and as I walked and considered, I suddenly understood the blind faith success that some people have and, equally, the burdensome utter hopelessness that drives others to suicide.  At this point in walk, I stopped.  I had to stop and swallow hard as it dawned on me that the world outside is really nothing more than the world inside my mind; as it is for everyone...I just hope that I can always maintain a ‘net positive’ balance in my mental world :-)

So, the next time you hear someone say ‘go explore the world outside’ you can turn to them and say ‘perhaps you should explore the world inside’ and then smile quizzically.

What do you think?