“Universe You”: Intro to Connecting the Dots (Part 1)

To make the most out of a life, one needs to be able to change it. To change a life, one needs to understand what it is made of. To understand what it is made of, one only needs to understand the highest- and lowest-level components which life as we know it is made of, existence & experience, the UNIVERSE & YOU!

The “Universe You” Series will provide overarching concepts and universal truths to help an individual understand existence and maximize their experiences within it. A new part of the series will be posted every Friday morning for the next several weeks.

This is the first piece of a multi-faceted puzzle, and by no coincidence, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts.

Part 1: Introduction to “Connecting the Dots” – what does understanding “Universe You” get you?

To Understand Existence & Experience…Connect the Dots!

To do ANYTHING, you need to be able to understand anything. To understand ANYTHING, you need to understand SOMETHING. By understanding THIS particular something, you can understand ALL things, and thus do anything.

Sounds easy in concept but harder in practice, right? I will not say “wrong”, rather, I will ask “why”? Why reinforce unnecessary barriers for the sake of reinforcing them? That is the very self-imposed constraint that has knowingly been bestowed upon us by a few and unknowingly adopted by many.

So before reading further, consider the Taoist principle of “the uncarved block”. Going into any situation with preconceived notions inhibits our ability to learn and grow from those situations to the fullest!

Shout-out to a good friend who shared the principle with me, consider reading the book “The Tao of Pooh”, and yes, it is indeed about the Tao of Winnie the Pooh, and not the Tao of Feces, which is however, in it’s own right, an uncarved block as well. 😉

Our “Life” is on the Line!

Existence is the aggregation of individual experiences. The universe is an aggregation those experiences – the universe is shaped by us, and we are made in its image.

All answers to all problems exist between the two ‘furthest’ points we can conceive on the line of existence – the macrocosm of the universe & the microcosm of you.

Connect those dots, and you can work with relative ease, to connect any and all dots in between.

All of Existence is Connected; All Experience is Relative

Think of Existence as the “infinite line between two finite points”.

How can a line be infinite and the points be finite, you may ask? We will get to that “point”, friends! In the meantime, I’ll reference a concept from my “What’s That?” post to help one conceptualize this concept:

“Take two points on any line, and subdivide it a while;
As each of the infinite children all have another child.”

The Measure of Experience

The measure of experience is the relative distance between any two points on this infinite line of existence. Said another way, experience is the feeling we have about “something it is like” based on it’s polarity with “something it is not like”.

To understand (and experience) happiness, we need to understand that TWO things make up happiness: (1) our perception of the ‘ideal’ happiness; and (2) our experience of ‘sadness’. This is a universal truth which applies to all feelings, perceptions, people and things; to the universe as a whole, and to you as an individual.

We cannot understand “sweet” without understanding its counterpart, “bitter”. What is “light” without “darkness”? This is where archetypes such as the simple, and timeless, “yin & yang” can have a profound impact on an individual’s awareness (often without the individual even knowing it).

So what is “Universe You”?

“Universe You” is the infinite line which defines your existence & experience between the two points of the universe and, of course, YOU!

It infinite, because it is ever-changing – and with change, comes growth. As we grow as individuals through experience, the universe grows as the aggregation of those experiences.

What Understanding “Universe You” will do

Revisit the beginning of this article, the questions regarding how to maximize your life. It requires change, and that requires understanding. The answer to this life question is in the universe; it is in you; it is in “Universe You”.

What understanding the Universe, Yourself, and “Universe You” will do is enable you to facilitate the change you desire through the one of two variables which make up life. You can influence change in yourself, and that change, based on cosmic law, will propagate into the universe. You can influence change in others, and that change, based on cosmic law, will cascade through you.

The subsequent articles in this series will help you apply this concept and literally leverage it to take action. I can nearly promise anyone who truly grasps this concept will be empowered to change, and/or maintain, as much as they desire.

This series begins by providing the ultimate “scope” of the topic. This series begins with the end – for just as has been reinforced through this article, we cannot understand beginning without the concept of an ending.

The “Universe You: Loophole on Life

For anyone which ‘follows’ this series, I will leave you with something to reflect on from now until next Friday, to help expedite one’s ability to grasp these “big” (relative to small) concepts.

Over the course of the next week, reflect on this:

The most effective way to understand YOU is to study the Universe;
The most efficient way to understand the Universe is to study YOU.

By understanding parts of one, you can understand parts of the other – and vice versa. Work on each, and you work toward connecting the two points from both directions.