Hi! Here’s another sticky from The Art of Possibility. In fact, it’s the name of the first chapter and the basis for approaching life with a lens of possibility.
It’s all invented.
What does this mean? In short, this note reminds me that I know nothing. Not really. Everything — it’s ALL invented — is a fabrication, a construct of the mind.
If you’ve not thought deeply about this before, it’s tempting to argue against its validity. Like, the chair you’re sitting in really exists. It’s not a construct. It’s true that I am sitting on something. “Chair” is a label, a story that explains the intended purpose of the object. Someone else might call the thing I’m sitting on an exercise ball. Which it is, as well as being my desk chair.
If I sit on a table, does that make it a chair? What about a log? What if I use a chair to prop open a door? Is it now a doorstop, a chair or both? The chair example is simple, but this goes beyond physical objects. What makes a friend? Or a home? How do you know if a situation is bad or good? Can it be both?
Labels are stories and shortcuts, which are very useful. However, they can also trap us with invented constraints.
If it’s all invented anyway, why not invent a more useful story?
Here is a practice from The Art of Possibility.
A simple way to practice it’s all invented is to ask yourself this question:
What assumption am I making,
That I’m not aware I’m making,
That gives me what I see?And when you have an answer to that question, ask yourself this one:
What might I now invent,
That I haven’t yet invented,
That would give me other choices?
What do you think?
Love,
Kate
p.s. Like this kind of topic? I write about sensing, perceiving, knowing, and believing in my other Substack, Useful / Beautiful.