Insight Out. Insights from Inside the Box.
What could come out during this period of isolation.
I love the word “insight”, specially now. Modern times have been telling us to believe that insights are something rare, unique, and worthy of tons of money.
“Only very creative people might be capable of such inspiring and singular ideas that change the game.” - is what people usually say about insights. Sure, many of the stories I’ve come to know, are just like that.
In every brainstorming meeting I’ve participated in, there was always someone motivating the group saying: “We need to think outside the box”. It’s hard not to immediately visualize it: You are inside a container. It’s closed. The concept of a container is directly related to entrapment. Ideas are not flowing. Therefore, you need to escape, you need get out of it, in order to bring the goods.
But ever since my quarantine days have begun, I’ve noticed something different. What I’m discovering is that if I force myself to think in a different sense of direction, new ways of thought, creative solutions, well built opinions, dreams… they all start popping like corns in a microwave.
We have been taught to create in the wrong way. Actually we have been taught to seek creativity in the wrong place. It took the outbreak of a virus, for me to realize something silly, but truthful. The word “insight” doesn’t only relate to a smart and cool idea that grows in your mind, out of the blue.
In.Sights. They are a vision, a shed of light in the darkness of what is unknown or untouched. They are born by the act of looking within. Look in first, you will see as a consequence.
The corn pops from inside, folks.
Teaching my mind (while finally having the time to do so) to stay within imaginary walls is giving me perspectives I didn’t quite experience frequently. It’s also nurturing empathy and acceptance to things I can’t control. This helps me come to the conclusion that it’s very healthy to stay inside. We must not be afraid to be in our container, for great things can come out of it. Like everything in life, there’s always a possibility to change a perspective. A container can also be something positive: for instance, a safe place to put your mind to work.
Isaac Newton, during the quarantine of the Bubonic Plague, created the Gravity Theory.
I’m not saying we’are all about to release to the world something of extreme importance, with enviable intellectual magnitude, but I definitely feel that a mind that sources from the inside will shine with more essential tools. It will think brighter and healthier.
The whole process of letting interesting things come out of our minds, it’s in fact, related to the Third Law of Newton. Action and Reaction. In order to be out, it needs to be in first. The term is called “inside out” — Yes, in that order, for a good reason. It also means action and reaction.
But attention, the power you give, is the power you get. After all, it’s physics. One needs to feed what’s inside with the same quality energy we expect to get as a reaction. Positive energy equals interesting kinds of content that can turn our minds into a nice place to live in.
Such contents, they can be of any kind. And while you take them in, sure, go ahead, look outside the window, enjoy the sunlight on your face. But know this: Insights can come to all of us. It’s just a question of staying in for a while.
