A New You

My heart aches for something new. A new color. A new smell. A food I’ve never had. I view to wash over my eyes.

I need to travel.

Thought for the day: What if you were to watch the sunrise in one state and then sundrive to watch the sunset of the world in a new state?

And not just a state of government or silly man-made maps. But a state of mind.

~ What if the person you were today were to fall asleep forever and a new you was to waken and step into your skin at the rising of the next sun? ~

There was an interesting version of this concept that was explored by the writer Edgar Rice Burroughs in his John Carter of Mars collection. The first novella, A Princess of Mars (first written in 1912 and which is still fantastic by the way) has this interesting excerpt that describes an interesting experience of transferring one’s consciousness from one body to another:

And we could look at so many more modern examples: Black Mirror, Altered Carbon, Self/Less, etc.
The concept is an enticing thought that seems to offer us either a shortcut to eternal life, or an all new level of madness that we’ve never seen before in human history.

But that’s the extreme end. I’m more interested in the physiological arguments that can be made for a similar idea for the goal of mental health and emotional growth. The old self that we are putting to bed is the being that we perceive ourselves to be at this moment in time.
Our character and our core doesn’t necessarily need to change (unless, by following this exercise, you identify some ingrained toxic traits in you that people have been trying to tell you about for years).
The new self that wakes under the new sunrise is the next iteration of yourself that lacks all the bitterness, cracks, and ugly pieces of the old one.

Now in order to wake up that new (and subjectively “better”) version of yourself, you have to first put to rest all those bad habits and hurting pains that you are carrying around with you right now. You know what they are:

• That feature that comes to mind when people ask “what’s one thing you would change about yourself?” Guess what, the animosity you feel towards that piece of you is just that: a feeling. Something the old you is holding onto and needs to be laid down. You only have one physical body. Stop taking a mental knife to every little corner and curve. You only end up cutting your soul and bleeding out your self-confidence. The new you is grateful for the body it’s been given.
  
  
• The fear that has haunted you for years because of a traumatic experience. OK, that one is touchy. Some people find their identity to be so closely tied to a radical hurt of the past that they genuinely have no anchor without it. The fear of experiencing repeated pain can almost always be equally matched with a fear of forgetting the pain entirely and moving on without it. But trust me, the new you that wakes up tomorrow is really quite tired of dragging that ball and chain around. At the very least, breath, and chip away at the chain every time you do this exercise so the next you may soon be free.
  
  
• The questions about your adequacy that continuously bombard the back of your mind like little stinging hornets. Those thoughts that you constantly defer to asking about every little damn thing you do. Examine the backside of you most recent decision. I’ll bet you’ll find it’s riddled with little stinger-marks from all those anxious little hornets. Again, you need to breathe and put the hornets to rest. There is no place for an angry hive of poisonous thoughts in the back of your new mind. The new you is ready to take on challenges with a calm mind and strong heart.
  
  
• This vice(s) that you feel you cannot function without. It sits as close to you as you can allow it.
  It wasn’t this close last year… How did I not notice? It’s within arms reach now. I used to have to go in the other room for it… It’s not that bad; I’m so much more ___ / better at ___ with it now! It’s worth it.
  No. No it really isn’t, my friend. It is slowly tearing you apart. You don’t see the tears and cracks right now. But step out of yourself for a moment and look at yourself with the eyes of your best friend. Or your mother. Or your coworker. Do you see it now? It’s been nibbling away at your time, your energy, invading your memory and making you forget who you were without it. It’s time to put it to sleep. Wrestle it don and choke it out like an MMA fighter if you have to. Tomorrow, it will be the enemy of the new you. Now that you have identified it, it’s going to fight to come back. This is one that is going to follow you for a little while. But don’t lose hope; there is coming a morning where a new you wakes up, smiles, and goes about the day, under a blue sky that is blissfully ignorant of the vice-grip this parasite had on the old you.
  
  
  etc. etc…

And so you follow. The steps are easy:

Identity > Accept > Put to Sleep > (magic happens here) > Wake up the New You

In a matter of a few weeks, a new you will be walking in your skin. Still carrying the physical marks, the scars, the memories. But no longer a slave to them. This new you can pick up new skills, discuss about any topic, approach any human being, sleep through any storm, and thrive under any sky.

And I would be remiss not to mention that if any readers are curious to dive into more topics like this, I cannot recommend enough the lectures of Alan Watts. Purely for the enlightening perspective and thought experiments he provides. Carefully watch yourself for subscribing too quickly to anyone’ ideals without understanding their thinking first.

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^{I have something to confess: the writer of this post is not the same writer as before. We carry the same name, live in the same house, wear the same clothes. But I am a better version of him. And an even better me will be reading these words by the light of tomorrow’s sunrise.}

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