Have you ever wondered why it’s easy to hear your own name being called out in a screaming crowd? Or why after hearing about a new movie or specific number, you start seeing it everywhere? If you’ve been thinking about buying that shiny new green car, chances are it’s already everywhere you look.
This is all due to the big bundle of nerves sitting at the end of your brainstem making up the Reticular Activating System (RAS).
Your RAS makes note of what you focus on and creates filters to present you with what you care about. Like little algorithms dropping off presents at your doorstep, it shows you what it thinks you want to see.
The problem, however, is the RAS isn’t great at determining what you actually want. It only knows what you focus on. This is especially dangerous in today’s media bubbles where it’s easy to fall into a cocoon of info that reinforces what you already believe, not necessarily what’s true.
It’s this concept, perhaps, that prompted Kurt Vonnegut to once write, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” -Kurt Vonnegut
Think of the Reticular Activating System as the science behind the Law of Attraction. It’s the old man behind the emerald curtain in the land of OZ, pulling the strings and hoping to please. But whether it’s through cold-hearted science or universe-whispering mysticism, the fact remains: What you think about you bring about.
One of the cornerstone quotes of this newsletter is a line from Robert Rodriguez, who said, “When you put creativity into everything, everything becomes available to you.”
The first step to adding creativity to everything, is seeing creativity in everything.
When we look at the world through a creative lens, opportunities to practice creativity pop-up like our names in noisy crowds. We can train our RAS and focus our manifestations to deliver inspiration right to our doorstep.
And remember, creativity isn’t just paint on a canvas or words in a poem. Creativity equals problem solving. Creativity is seeing the light throughout the tunnel.
So, be careful what you focus on. And use that big bundle of nerves to bring in the good stuff.
