It is possible to hold two opposing ideas at the same time.........................

Is it possible to hold two opposite thoughts in our

heads/minds at the same time?

Or as George Orwell puts it: ''Doublethink means the power

of holding two contradictory belief's in ones

mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.''

Getting our minds around the fact that two opposing

ideas can somehow sometimes be possible, can at times

make us feel uncomfortable, unsettled and unresolved.

We much prefer dichotomy because it offers us

 two clear options to choose from: right or wrong. 

If something is right it can't be wrong.

  Cognitive dissonance, meaning to hold two

opposing ideas in our heads at the same time, can

for some of us be rather challenging.

Like for instance: Being sick and healthy at

the same time. One can't be healthy if one is sick, yeah.

 Or simultaneously being stingy and generous,

 open and closed, friendly and unfriendly, or kind and mean.

A long time ago a friend challenged me concerning

my(in his opinion) frequent use of ''absolutes.''

(I agree, my mindset had to be opened.)

''Absolutes'' are words that have no nuances. 

They are terms without exceptions.

Such as: always, forever, everyone, never, totally,

completely, non-negotiable, set in cement,

absolutely, only, and so on and on..............

After realizing how often I used absolutes 

I decided that I needed to dispense of

as many as possible. 

As the wise say: with your words you create

your world.

*

You know how there are some days that seem

to start with something annoying happening 

from the moment you get out of bed?

Like: Getting out of bed you trip on one of your

slippers and you hit your head on the corner of your

chest of drawers. Getting up from knocking

yourself out, you stumble into the bathroom,

look in the mirror and blood is dripping down

your face.

You do a quick clean and put a band-aid on the

wound. As you grab your toothbrush you

realize that you've run out of toothpaste.

You dress in a hurry grabbing whatever is

nearest.

Running down the steps to the kitchen

your cat, Baily, thinks you're playing and

starts to run between your feet.

Barely making it downstairs, the phone rings.

Where is it???Where is it????@!#

Finally you find it on the floor, pick it up

and just as you say Hello?....they hang up.

You turn on the kettle and stretch your arm

to put your toast in the toaster when Baily

decides to get your attention by pushing stuff

off the kitchen table.

Diving in order to catch your favourite coffee mug

from hitting the floor, the alarm goes off

and the smell of burnt toast fills the kitchen.

You open all the windows, turn off the alarm

and with gritted teeth, you finally make your coffee.

 You sit down and try to calm yourself.

You now know that you are running late and

that the traffic is going to be bumper to bumper.

Draining the last of your coffee, you get up

and put the milk back in to the fridge.

 While giving your mug a quick rinse, 

your sub-conscious

makes you have a look at the calendar 

on the fridge door.

What????? Geeeeeeeez#@!

Surely not!!

You look again.

Nope. 

You read it again.

Yep.

It is Saturday.

This is a blog about perspective

and how the words we choose to use to define

our experiences can change a dreary day to

a day of adventure and new experiences.

Always can be changed into ''often''

Everyone >    > ''many''

Never >   >seldom/not very often

Everybody >   > ''somebody"

Instead of starting with an absolute, start with

sometimes, it seems, it tends to be.......

At times I feel a bit.............

Thinking about how extra-ordinary  ''ordinary'' days 

are when I had ''one of those days'', made me

aware of how easy it is to take for granted

the many things that works day after day.

''Perspective is something that we are 

individually accountable and responsible for.

We, us, we decide the words we designate

to define our feelings, experiences and life.''

(Citizen Z)

It is indeed possible to hold two opposing ideas

at the same time methinks.

One can believe in freedom and at the same time

 believe in order.(Laws)

One can support new theories and at the same time

hang on to some old ones.

One can love heavy metal music and at the same time

adore Opera.

One can be deeply devoted to one's birth country

and at the same time champion support for

newcomers arriving from far away.

''We do not see things as they are,

we see things as we are.''

(Anais Nin)

about the image: charcoal, water colour on fashion draft 

paper.