A World of Possibilities

Always loved this idea – a world of possibilities, and now, it has exploded.  Yes, exploded for me.  My understanding of world is so much larger.

I am taking a course from Princeton University, through coursera.org, delivered by David Spergel – Imaging Other Worlds.  It was the title that initially lured me in and I am amazed that I have stayed.  It turns out to be a lot of mathematical equations and scientific principles, which quite frankly I would normally run away from.  However, David Spergel, is amazing.  I am captivated, challenged and more curious than ever.

For a quick overview, a 54 minute video go to www.pbs.org/nova.   Yes, 54 minutes and I hope you are as enthralled with the journey as I am.

Imaging Other Worlds has really made me ponder how limited my thinking can be. 

            What I don’t know, I don’t see. 

Yes, I see stars in the night sky.  I am lucky enough to go out with an Astronomy Group here in Oman to view the night skies through some very powerful telescopes.  But even this did not prepare me for the wonders of the Universes - millions of star and millions of planets.  I was still understanding Science from my school days and seeing only our sun and our solar system.  This has completely changed. 

I remember as a University student being completely disenchanted with Sciences when I was told that it has now been proven that dinosaurs are warm blooded not cold blooded as I had been taught and believed.  At the time I was not ready to have my way of thinking of the world challenged or even worse, proven to be false!

            What I don’t know, I don’t see.

 Now I know there are millions of other planets, perhaps other life forms on these planets and even though I cannot see them I now envision them in my mind’s eye.  

            Is this where it starts?

Back to this earth.  If I can envision it , I can do it.  I can start today by throwing off my self-imposed limitations and see what might come forward.

I was out on a snorkeling and camping trip a few weekends ago.  Whilst happily snorkeling around a fairly quiet part of the Island I was suddenly taken aback.  It looked like a giant rope attached to a piece of coral.  I immediately stopped, sensing danger although not sure why.  This piece of rope scared me.  So I happily changed direction and snorkeled elsewhere.  Upon getting back to shore I asked the other snorkelers if they had seen the rope.  They informed me quite seriously it was not a piece of rope,  it was a very large jellyfish.  It could cause quite a bit of harm! 

    What I don’t know,  I don’t see!  Rope/jellyfish

Leads to another interesting question.  Ok, so there are many stars and planets up in the sky and many forms of life in the seas, all of which I am only starting to become aware of.  What else?  What is it in my everyday mundane existence that I don’t see.   What do I see only as what I expect to see? (rope/starfish)   Perspective is everything. 

Psychologist and author David Hawkins, in his book, Power versus Force, tells a story of a man dressed in ragged clothing, not shaven, standing on a street corner in a well to do neighborhood.  I may not have this exactly correct but here goes.  He tells us that how we see the world is how we see this man, it depends on our state of consciousness.  Here’s what I remember from the story.  If we have a state of lack/fear we see the man as an intruder, perhaps a robber, going to break into the homes and steal.  If we are in a state of love, we see him as a poor man who needs our help and sympathy.  We feel condolence, seeing him as someone less than ourselves who needs our help.  If we operate from a state of power, where everyone is equal, we see a man and wonder what kind of interesting stories he has.  Note, this is a different definition of power than is commonly held.

                                                                       Perspective  

 Redefine a world of possibilities by removing your self imposed limitations.  

What do you see?