The metaphors we live by are significant, consequential.
For a long time, I’ve subconsciously subscribed to the “lightswitch” metaphor of positive change. In this metaphor, I can change my life to a fulfilled, happy state through X.
X can be:
- A book
- A course
- A therapy
- A practice
- A retreat
- A substance
- A philosophy
Nowadays, I’m realizing that there’s a dopamine hit from the early stages of all the X’s above. It’s dopaminergic to believe that THIS THING will solve all my problems, flip the lightswitch of my life.
My pattern would go like this: I would get the dopamine hit from the early stages of X, then lose momentum, and find a new dopaminergic X to imbibe.
The problem wasn’t even necessarily the individual things I got involved in. The problem was my metaphor.
Nowadays, I have a new metaphor: that of an incremental journey. You don’t do a long trail instantly. You have to keep showing up every day, logging in the miles.
And while stretches of solitude have value, overall the journey is better if you hike alongside friends. We don’t have to do the whole hike alone.
Credit to Megan Cowan for calling out my “lightswitch” view years ago, and Em for the “incrementalist” language.
danscreativeoulet 