I read one time that each of our individual lives is an experiment of one. Where we are born, what family and culture we are born into, and our biology are either random or part of a larger cosmic selection. From there, what we do once we grow and the circumstances we either choose, or have foisted upon us, mold us into the people we eventually become. Regardless of whether we believe (or not) that a “cosmic force” continues to be involved in our lives as we age, much of it still seems to be an “experiment of one.” So, with encouragement from Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better,” my own experiment will be conducted in the next coming months.
As I mentioned several weeks ago in a blog post, Thom and I are planning to travel for the remainder of the summer. We will be driving from Southern California and have reserved two different vacation rentals in British Columbia, Canada. Fortunately, we received news that Canada will be re-opening their border to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens on August 9th. And while that may sound relatively straight-forward and uncomplicated—it is anything but. Not only does the route north involve dodging fire, smoke, and road closures, once we get to the border there are several unknowns and hoops to jump through to be able to cross. Then of course there is COVID-19 and the variants. Who knows for sure with that?
After, explaining some of the coming hurdles to a friend earlier this week, she kindly suggested, “Maybe the Universe is trying to tell you not to go?” The truth is that advice is possible. Then again, maybe it is just another way of looking at the experiment of my life. Could I regret some of my choices? Maybe. Do I want to delay living until it’s predictable? Nope. Perhaps like R. Buckminster Fuller said, “There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.”
So, while considering all my different options in the next few months, I am making the conscious choice to take a more relaxed and less structured approach to SMART Living 365. Rather than continue to put out a post every Friday (like I’ve done for over ten years now) I am going to post if and when I feel like it. I will also be trusting that those people who appreciate what I write will continue to read them when possible—or they will make a different choice that better suits their particular experiment. I do plan to get back to a more regular schedule later in the fall. But either way I want my approach to the blog to unfold organically.
With that choice, I want to think of my “2021 Summer Experiment” as Peter Bregman said, “…when we live life as an experiment, we are far more willing to take risks, to acknowledge failure, to learn and develop. That’s what experiments are all about: discovery and growth. There is no real failure in an experiment because it’s all data. If something doesn’t work, that’s simply data that leads to changing behavior to see if something else does work.”
While I’m at it, I’m also going to be turning off the comments for every post that I will be making—starting with this post. It’s not that I don’t love hearing from those who leave comments, but as every blogger knows it take quite a bit of time to monitor and answer everyone. Of course, I will be on Facebook so if you simply must reach me, that’s the place.
To enjoy my trip and keep experimenting, I’m going to do as a guy named Tod said, “It’s a bit like being a mad scientist. You mix a bit of that with some of that. You’re never sure what’s going to happen. But I’d rather blow up the laboratory than keep reinventing the wheel.”
There you have it—the premise behind my coming experiment. I hope you join me when I randomly post something in the weeks ahead. And I look forward to reconnecting with you again in the fall. In the meantime, please consider that it might be SMART for each of us who are dedicated to living a life of discovery and growth to consider that each of us is living our own experiment of one.
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