What If ....

You know it dawned on me yesterday morning as I was on the 401, heading into the big smoke (i.e. Toronto)... It dawned on me that the topics I've been writing about lately (e.g. ghosts, reincancation, spirituality, UFOs, etc ...) are only interesting if you look at them in a certain way. And most people take one of two stances, in approaching these leap-of-faith, out-of-this-world topics.

One way is, what I call, the 'is/is not" approach. It is the rational, entrenched in reality stance. This is Mr. Spock from Star Trek. Very black and white, nothing - absolutely nothing, in between. Do ghosts exist? Yes they do. Here is my evidence. Do you believe in god? No, I do not. My arguments are to follow... yada... yada... yada. There is no room for speculation or wonder, just the hard, cold and dry debate. This is a very closed-ended discussion, it does not spawn possibilities or discoveries - in fact it shuts them down - tight. Having said this, there's nothing wrong with this type of take, it's needed in many aspects of our life. As a Project Manager, I'm required to be in this mode most of the time. I have to deal with reality and facts. But there is a time and place for everything, and when we're talking about reincancation, for example, what's the point of talking in terms of 'is-is not". The conversation would last for only a minute and it'll be over. And BTW, it would not be interesting for anyone... in fact, the "is-is not" type of discussion takes all the fun out of some, otherwise very intriguing and thought provoking topics.

"is-is not" is based on what we know.

"what if" is based on what we don't know.

The world of "what if" is powerful and inspiring, as any successful novelist would tell you. It is the open-ended world of could... it talks about possibilities, discoveries, wonder and leaps of faith. It is a juicy steak, not a dry one. It is based on something we can all agree on: we don't know if ghosts really exist - do we? They could, is at the core of this way of thinking. It is not - they do or do not. It is not black and white, rather shades of grey that can lead to an explosion of colour when allowed to explore with an open mind. If ghosts could exit... then the pictures on the net, at least one or two of them, become very, very interesting and thought provoking. Again, it's not saying they DO exist. It's saying they MIGHT exist. And opens the door to what else might exist?

I have a great example that came up recently in a lively discussion with a friend on the topic: If reincancation really occurs. My friend, very excitedly mentioned that he can see things now that he would not otherwise acknowledge - like there are patterns and cycles everywhere in life that model reincarnation. Look at our seasons he says - "Spring is birth, Summer is living life, Fall is old age, Winter is death, Spring is your rebirth, and on it goes... There are such patterns everywhere you look in life..... birth and death, birth and death... "

Now is he presenting proof of reincarnation? No, he is not!

He is speculating on.... what if. And that's all he is doing.

It is a much different mindset, and much more interesting discussion....