Liberat.es
Realistic
A word on realistic. One of the things I’ve experienced is that when the idea of what is “realistic” is invoked, it’s often done as a “rear facing” perspective. What I mean by this is that we are looking at the world through the lens that we know. We have either seen things happen - or fail - a certain way, we have a model for the way things are. Rear facing means that we are looking toward the past to understand the future. All too often, this leads to a reduction: that’s impossible!
But there is another kind of realistic. A forward facing realistic. What I mean here is that we recognize that many things that are true and normal to us today were once impossible. That the the bold thing we are looking at can emerge, but that it will require something from us. It will require courage. It will require risk. Belief. Faith. Hard work. But it also requires paying attention.
Paying attention to what is truly asking to emerge right now. An idea of the future may not quite be ready. It has a time, and now may not be it. In that way, it is not realistic. Right now. Yet, it’s time may very well be now. But it might mean that we need to become something else in order to usher it into the world. In that case, it’s not realistic for us as we are. In other words, perhaps it’s time to wait, or it’s time to change.
Regardless, it is this latter realistic that holds power for me. It’s what let Steve Jobs “put a dent in the universe1,” and it’s what’s going to let us usher in the world that is coming.
Let’s get real.