So...the way I typically write these newsletters is by tapping into concepts that are relevant and thought-shifting. At least, that’s the intention. And it must kinda work because each newsletter gets shared a lot, and generates a lot of ‘hey, I’ve been working on negative self-talk, thanks for bringing it up in this light!’ or, ‘we’re really made of light?!’ I always love hearing how these writings help/inspire/inquire, btw, because I'm writing them for you, offering info which helps reframe your world view in a helpful way.
Hopefully. Don't really know, though, unless you tell me.
What I don’t do when writing these newsletters, is generate a title and then write the concepts. The title follows the writing. After I see the puzzle that forms from all of its pieces.
So, I was blown away when two of my dearest friends- Rachel Ash and Rebecca Gordon (a.k.a. my stellar coauthor on Your Body and the Stars) – gave me a roast, and came up with a handful of fake – and hella funny – newsletter titles based on crazy dots they connected on my behalf. They then challenged me to create content for it on the spot.
Here’s what I (more-or-less) said:
Phalanges, the 10th dimension + the F train
(actual title they created)
Your phalanges are the bones of your fingers. The term is derived from Latin, referring to a ‘row of soldiers.’ This row can be construed as either the 3 phalangeal bones of each finger (except for your thumb, which only has 2...that’s partly why it’s shorter), or the row of fingers created by all your phalanges.
As you likely know, you have 10 fingers. Speaking of which, I can’t help but recall a scene in the 1978 classic Animal House, where Prof Jennings waxes poetic about how an entire universe may reside in a single atom in your fingernail.
That would be a lot of universes co-existing. Like 7*10^27 (a.k.a. 7 billion billion billion). A concept which is kinda explained by physics using the 10thdimension. Just like your 10 fingers, there are 10 dimensions. So, hey, maybe you don’t just got the whole world in your hands, as the song goes, but every world in every in every universe in every dimension. Think on it. Then resume living in a world that acts as if we’re the end-all, be-all of everything.
Anyhow.
Here is a most excellent video explaining the 10 dimensions, with pretty much a pencil dot. This video series (2 parts, 10min total) provides an awesome explanation--fascinating and totally relatable to people like you and me. Spoiler alert: the 10th dimension includes all, infinite possibilities of all, infinite universes...inclusive of the 7th dimension, in which all possible versions of your life (and timelines since the Big Bang) reside...in addition to the 3rd dimension life you are in right now. So, basically (ha!), everything from dimensions 1 to 10 ultimately collapses back into a pencil dot, into one point that represents everything and nothing simultaneously (‘cause it’s all potential until you observe it)... and because the dot, to begin with, is just a geometric idea that indicates a position in a system. Not a location, a position, a.k.a. nowhere in particular, everywhere in potential.
And speaking of ‘nowhere,’ that is exactly where the F Train in NYC will take you ;)
(Never actually been on it but for 15+years keep hearing a litany of subway announcements that it’s under construction and alternate travel plans are needed for folks who want to take it...cause it’s getting nowhere fast).
.................... [That’s all, folks. Readers go wild with applause] ....................
A brief and hopefully fun read :) The fun part for me is that, in my perspective, everything is already connected. It’s just a matter of finding the commonality(s).
Like how you can always talk about weather with a stranger...regardless of that person’s gender, skin color, hairdo, political beliefs, etc. There’s always a point of connection between you and life around you, it’s just a matter of caring enough to find it.
And I hope you do. ‘Cause we’re in this (dimension) together.