Everyone likes bubbles right?
Everyone is actually in a bubble. People may say that “you’re in your own world” or you “have tunnel vision” or you “have blinders on.” All that stuff is kind of related to being in your own bubble—which we all are.
Something interesting happened to me that really brought this to my attention. It was one of those times (fortunately) where the introspective side had priority over the logical side.
I’ve been trying to work out more. I’ve been pretty good at sticking to a schedule and as a very wise man* once said “Everyone finds the time to do the things that are important to them.” So obviously other things take precedent but I still have managed to fit it in. So like some people once in a while I send a picture to one of my friends and say good morning to them and it’s a picture of the machine I happen to be on. And yes, obviously it’s a bit of a virtue signal. I humbly admit that.
My friend told me, respectfully, not to send pictures like that to them because it sort of feels like shaming them.
So let me tell you what happened at the end of this once I explain bubbles
Our particular ever-present bubble
Imagine that we are all in a bubble. It’s only like a couple feet around us. But whatever it is that’s important to us, our mood, the things that bother us, the things that haunt us, the things that excite us, recent trauma, it’s all in this bubble. Like a soap bubble that’s sort of filled up with various gases in it and items floating and bouncing around in it.
So as you can see this is more than a mood right? These things are sort of bouncing around randomly and only held in this delicate soap bubble for so long. Sometimes this dissipate and sometimes I go back inside us.
Humans are complicated and random. So this is a good visual demonstration of it
Let me give you some examples. The person in front of you in line seems to be fuming. They are standing very still and upright and very tense. They have a bunch of stuff bouncing around in their bubble and you’re close enough to basically see it.
If you have a conversation with them you will pierce the bubble and who knows what will come out? In some cases the person will start yelling at you and another case is they will immediately seek understanding and solace and try to build consensus with you about something that’s bothering them.
Bubbles aren’t always filled with bad stuff
They are pretty much filled with all the stuff going on and you are built in reactions to things. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. Some of them are recent and some of them are old.
Piercing the bubble
As I said if you pierce someone’s bubble by conversation—or proximity—some of that stuff is going to come out.
In this way it is very much like a physical bubble because you can poke it from a distance or you can go right up to it and shove your arm into it. So you can literally set someone off by just standing too close to them.
Learn the rest about bubbles and find out what i did by listening to this short podcast. Ten minutes-sh, as always.
*Shameful. Shameful self-promotion.
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Mark Bradford is the author of nine books, both fiction and nonfiction, including the clinical psychologist-endorsed Three Voices as well as the award-winning trilogy The Sword and the Sunflower.
Mark Bradford developed a system to achieve goals, manage your energy and understand and strengthen your path – it’s Alchemy for Life™.
He writes, coaches and speaks on the subject. For more information, tips and tricks, like Mark Bradford on Facebook, follow Mark Bradford on Twitter.
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