Art Gallery of Your Past
We often look at events from the past with regret and worry. We find ourselves re-living those moments in our head and imagine how things would have turned out if we had done something different: “If only I did this, if only I said that.” While we do this continuously, we undervalue the quality of our life today. We cannot really enjoy the present moment in its purity because our thoughts from the past are obscuring the view, like listening to a beautiful piece of classical music while someone is removing a big trash bag from the kitchen.
A useful “hack” is to realize that you have the freedom to think about the past however you like. With a little bit of effort, you can view any past situation with the lens of your choice. In other words, you can paint a picture of the past with your own paintbrush, your own texture, and your own colors. You can choose to organize all your past memories and thoughts in a way that gives you the most peace and enjoyment today. Given that you cannot change the past, you can decide how you think about it.
A few examples might be helpful. You got fired from your job last year because of an incompetent boss. This is one way of representing a past event. The other way is to say to yourself that getting fired was actually a gift in disguise from your boss, because it allowed you to pursue your real passion and get a new job. Once you agree with yourself that this is what happened, you wrap the image and lock it in the shelf, or post it on the wall.
You lost a lot of money going into a business deal with a partner who turned out to be a crook. One way to look at it is to think about all the things that you could have done with the money if you hadn’t gone into business with him. The other way to think about this is that the experience has taught you a great lesson in business. You are now wiser and better equipped for greater success in the future. This image took you a bit longer to draw. Once ready, you also post it in your gallery.
Every time something reminds you of your past job or the business venture, you remember to look at the new picture you just painted.
In practice, a good way to work through this is to catch yourself thinking about a past event that troubles you. There are a few big events that often linger on. Those have to be dealt with first. The process involves re-thinking them, re-drawing and re-shelving them. When the major ones are dealt with, we can unveil all the dust that is hiding under the carpet. A lot of thoughts resurface as you think about your childhood, university days, friends, colleagues, family, holidays, work, business trips, etc. I invite you to paint a new picture of each past experience. Once the backlog of past thoughts has been cleared, you can analyze events that happened yesterday or this morning with the same process.
By doing so, you will have a better experience today. You are the artist and your job is to create your beautiful gallery representing your past. It will contain a number of masterpieces, drawings, and a number of wooden statues, all with delightful descriptions. It is airy, well lit, and cool. A friendly guide with a smile on his face is there to help with any questions you may have. In the background, Mozart is quietly playing his piano.
