What Will You Attach to the Boomerang the Universe Flung at You?
In psychology, the Boomerang Effect is described as “A strong counter-reaction when there is a deliberate attempt to change an attitude (resulting in a strengthening or adoption of the attitude that the marketer was attempting to change).” It’s basically a double down. I mention this because, while I am not talking about this effect particularly, I believe we should be doubling down when anyone tries to dissuade us from our life mission.
In the not-too-distant future, it is likely no one will know my name. My name may rarely, if ever be spoken into the ether. One day, everyone who currently knows me will also be gone from this time on the planet. I am not afraid of the ultimate decrescendo of my name into a whisper toward its eventual evaporation. But I believe I should leave work in motion. Something that continues to emerge in thought like dew lays fresh in the morning—a gentle ethereal notion lingering in the planet. I feel the responsibility to leave the planet better than I found it. I believe it is simply good manners to treat well the things loaned to us or entrusted to our care. So what are we boomeranging back to the Universe?
Imagine the creator, God, The Universe throwing a boomerang at you from space. It is directed to you. It is only for you. Uniquely, you will fling it back one day using the power accumulated from doing you. You, the educator. You the gardener. You, the innovator. You, the public servant. You, not them. You, regardless of opinion. You, regardless of criticism. You, the one in the arena. You, the one doing the work. You, the universal thinker. You, the one who goes against the grain. You, who never fit another’s mold. You, who knows better. You, who does better. You, who is not resigned to being who your parents thought you should be. You, who didn’t get wrangled into your father’s hardware business. Gay you. Straight you. Zen you. Vagabond you. You, with the disability that made you better. You, with the flaws you did not allow to weaken you. You, with the new way of doing things. You, who asks all the questions. Skeptical. Different. You.
My pastor when I was growing up used to tell me that I was so “peculiar.” That is the word he used. And he used it quite a bit. He used it like how my dog, Ali Bishop, looks at me sometimes. Ali doesn’t just turn his head. He turns his whole entire head in the most curious way. That is how peculiar felt, as though it came from the most curious place in him. I didn’t know what to do with that information back then. But I do now, and I see it was the most glorious compliment. I wasn’t the same! I wasn’t the same! Hallelujah! (In my Jim Carey voice from Liar Liar) I wasn’t the same! I value that. And I’ve come to own my perspective. How I see, what I see, and how I want to see. I won’t be swayed, but I am always understanding.
Sameness is an epidemic that will infect our boomerangs to the extent that when our lives are done, and we fling them back, the Universe will likely be unable to distinguish them. This is the worst way for our names to fade. Fading because we neglected the unique gifts and ideas, dissolved in a solvent of shame or not enoughness. Dissolved into particles the Universe cannot recognize.
What will you throw back at the Universe screaming, “yeah boy-eee, I did that! I took what you gave me and became an alchemist. I turned straw to gold. I turned plastic to bricks. I put shoes on every child in the world. I made meat from plants. I invented cameras that connect to optic nerves to restore vision to the blind. I helped solve my community’s hunger problem. I stopped my own damn hunger problem of constantly seeking, wanting more for no reason. I stopped losing myself in comparison, stopped killing my joy and becoming unhappy and unproductive to the point that I have nothing left to leave the planet that so graciously hosted me. Yes, I did that! I doubled down on me!”
Pondering your boomerang is time well spent. And in doing so, you may find that you too, are peculiar.
Love, Peace, and Progress,
Tracey Alexandria Lynch
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Ali the Puppy Photo Credit: Riley Hill Photography