22/12/2013
Parallel Universe
I
often hear people use the term "parallel universe", and I wonder if
they mean what I do when I talk about "parallel universe". After a
long while, when I myself experienced passing through a "parallel
universe", and following a long period in which I wanted to write about it,
I found the adequate time to raise the subject on paper. This time I decided to
focus on this area, prior to writing about other topics sitting on my table. Furthermore, the question may arise why this
topic is so important to write about. This is indeed a good question, but I am
not certain that at this stage I can offer a good answer. Perhaps it is related
to our consciousness and the significance of the various events that take place
in our surrounding, though I believe that consciousness is significant in our
daily life. Consciousness is important by attributing flexibility to our daily
life so that we will not view events at one level which normally includes the
event and the search for a suitable response. Though this is important too, we
may view events from a different angle. Once we acquire a reasonable
explanation to the situation then we fully comprehend it, and that adds
flexibility and tranquility to our daily life. Therefore, I chose to write
about this topic.
In
the course of life we find ourselves in places that are very significant for
us. Subsequent to that, these places may offer various components in our daily
and routine activities, such as employment, hobbies, social life, challenges,
self-realization, etc. For example: our workplace, where we spend days, months
and sometimes so many years that we feel as if that place has become our second
home, where we not only work but also acquire many friends and participate in
many mutual events. We cooperate with our colleagues, with our managers and
even get attached to customers whom we have known for many years and also feel
an integral part of our work environment. Even our actual office plays a great
role in our daily life, and we are attached to the place and the convenience it
offers us. We take pride of our workplace, we experience a sense of belonging
and the workplace is our whole world. There are naturally other places we get
so strongly attached to and they are the center of the world for us: home and
family (both at our parents' home as well as our core family) and it is
redundant to emphasize in this article how strong and significant this tie is
for us. Or, for instance, great significance includes a group of friends whom
we have been meeting for many years, a place where we volunteer, and more such
places that endow on us a sense that they are our whole world. So here emerges
the question, what connects a significant place in our life to the
"parallel universe"?
The
link between a significant place in life and a "parallel universe" is
a state of departure from one place and moving into another significant place
in life. Any significant place in life is called universe. A "parallel
universe" is a state in which transition between two places takes place,
and so that the new place acquires all the roles of the former one, and also
replaces it. The previous place loses its influence on us, and all we are left
with are mainly memories.
It
is not always pleasant and frequently hard, but that is a situation some of us
experience in any period of our life. I do not wish to delve on the description
and assert whether this is a good or bad situation. I simply wish to stay in
this depicted situation and let each of us decide how he feels about it. Departure
includes departing from all that surrounded us in the former place, and that is
why we move to another universe. Let us take for example the workplace. When we
change our job, the physical distance between the two workplaces is
insignificant. In reality the two workplaces may be close to each other, but in
the situation of "parallel universe" a nearly total separation
occurs. The physical place is replaced; there is no longer any connection with
the old colleagues, and so new colleagues, who are not related to the older
colleagues, emerge, customers change, management changes, various events
(despite their basic similarity) change, and what used to be a certain ritual,
becomes a totally different event. No longer are there any encounters in the
supermarket, no coincidental running into each other in a movie or theater.
Strange, isn't it? This is the function of the "parallel universe":
to separate as much as possible between all the components of the former system
and replace them with other components. In any place a full physical separation
is formed, although we still live in the same city, even in the same
neighborhood.
Roads
that we were accustomed to use are replaced by others, and likewise pavements.
The act of replacement is nearly perfect. Occasionally isolated encounters with
the past are formed, but we actually find ourselves in a complete
"parallel universe" similar in its components to what we experienced
in the former previous place.
What
is the reason that such replacement is taking place? I am not sure I have all
the answers pertaining to the topic, but anyhow I will explain. In case we have
an inner-need that is not fulfilled in the existing place and change is required.
On the surface, this may be viewed as being fired from the workplace, retiring,
leaving the place work, divorce, moving abroad, and many more reasons. All
these involve our need to satisfy our self-realization.
This
committing change may be very hard for us, and so the question that emerges is:
what is the best way to rehabilitate after such a situation? How is it
possible? The "parallel universe" facilitates all parties involved to
open a new page. It offers us mental rehabilitation, which may not be feasible
in the same environment from which we have just exited, even if it encompasses
our self-realization. This does not mean that we find anyone guilty. This is a
natural process, though not a simple one at all. Our memories and feelings will
not allow us to preexist in a place where there is an ongoing friction with the
places and friends we have been so attached to. This separation will offer
opening a new page and allows old and open wounds to close. The "parallel
universe" helps us to continue being significant on the one hand, and heal
ourselves on the other hand, so that we will be able to pursue our
self-realization.
I
would like to thank you for being attentive to me. You are welcome to wait for
the continuation of the article that will discuss the subject of "parallel
universe" existing in the daily life of various populations, why it exists
and how it has evolved.
I am
writing this article at the end of 2013 and wish us all that 2014 will be a
prosperous year that will bring us all, as close as possible, to fulfilling our
aspirations and dreams.
Nadav
barkai
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