Tempe Town Lake is a man-made lake not far from here where you can use a paddleboat or a kayak or go fishing. It’s also a popular location for triathlons.
The water is not crystalline.
When I swam in Tempe Town Lake, I couldn’t see my hand at the end of my completely outstretched arm.
The water you swim in affects how you see things, both literally and metaphorically.
What did you think was typical across households until some startling point in time when you realized that your family was the only one who did that thing? There are threads of these anecdotes across social media.
We project our surroundings and circumstances onto everyone. We assume everyone is the same “base model” and that others just make different choices.
Who we were raised by, who we spend/spent time with at school, at work, during free time, online and off affects both who we are and what we see as “normal.”
(I recognize these upcoming statements are easier said than done, particularly if you’re following shelter-in-place guidelines and the concept of spending time with people is anacronistic.)
If you want to eat better, spend more time with people who eat well and less with people who don’t, because eating well in that context is “normal.”
If you want to save money, spend more time with people who save and less with people who spend, because saving money in that context is “normal.”
If you want to feel happier, spend time with generally happy people.
And so on.
This is true of habits not as easily measured, too. Spend time with generous people, with thoughtful people, with empathetic people, with kind people, if those are the people you want to be like, if those are the skills you want to develop.
In this light, it’s possible to have affection for people and also not want to spend a lot of time with them.
Part of the difficulty many recovering substance addicts have is their social circle. If I spend my time with my friends who spend their time getting drunk, I either need to be able to be with them and not get drunk or I need to spend time with other people.
It’s hard.
It’s applicable to anything that could be considered addiction: drugs, alcohol, junk food, shopping, gambling, working, gaming, etc. Maybe also to frames of mind: generosity, complaining, benefit of the doubt, victimhood, thoughtfulness.
Beginning in August, I took part in The Creative’s Workshop, where I spent at least an hour every day virtually interacting with other people engaging in creative work and being vulnerable in a space where showing your work and giving and receiving feedback was normal.
It changed me, for the better.
“People like us do things like this.” Find the people doing the things you want to do, and join them. Be open to who they are and who you might become, and over time, you will shift.
