Making it Up

Have you ever pretended you were making the whole world up? Maybe as a thought experiment as a kid? You were in command, making stoplights change, making birds fly, designing cloud patterns and spider webs like some fantastical and omnipotent Wizard. Have you ever pretended that you intended for everything in your world to happen?

And maybe, as your mom came in and told you to pick up your room before dinner, you remembered that she was a robot you programmed to say just that, and it made you giggle. It probably didn’t make her too happy, but was the idea that she could possibly get down on your case suddenly become ridiculous? Or do you remember?

I recommend, nay I dare you, to try the experiment again now, as an adult (if that's what you are).

Start by imagining that none of this is real. Everything in the world is a totally blank slate for you to create from. You can choose when people sneeze, when they cross the street. You control the weather and the traffic. You direct the behavior of your children and pets. You planned in advance what mail would be waiting for you in your mailbox.

How does it make you feel?

I recommend trying this experiment periodically. Or whenever the mood strikes you. I’ve got no idea how it’ll make you feel. I know it can sometimes feel a little bit scary, but for me it usually makes me giggle.

Here’s the secret: It’s supposed to be fun!

Why is this a secret? Well, because it’s dangerous, I expect. Can’t have everyone running around giggling all the time when there’s tragedy everywhere we turn. Where crisis and calamity and fear create true Reality, right?

I mean, undoubtedly you will observe something that doesn’t feel very comfortable. You might not feel good about making up the homeless guy on the street or the drivers swearing at traffic or the teenaged girl fighting with her boyfriend in the coffee shop. At this point I invite you to remind yourself again this is not real. I am making this up. See what that stirs. I know, it may seem callous, but just try the What If scenario, and just stick with it. Just watch it, be the observer. Who knows? You might just learn something about yourself in the process.

Ultimately, the question I would ask you is this: are laughter and joy expressions we are only allowed to experience when the sorrows of the world are resolved?

Au contraire! I posit that this irreverent and ruthless return to fits of giggles is actually a perfectly healthy and rational launching point for the end of the suffering of the world.

And I posit that truly, none of this IS real, but maybe I’ll get into that later. Maybe.