The concept of ‘portals’ has come up in my life a couple of times recently, which means I’m seeing them everywhere.
(Not actual light-ringed circles, where you can tap yourself on the back from another dimension if you put your arm through it, don’t worry.)
The first time, was an excellent podcast episode I was pointed to, hosted by the wonder-full duo of Amanda Jones & Alex Linares.
And then again, a few days later on LinkedIn, where someone posted this quote from Matt Haig’s ‘Comfort Book’:
“Portal. Each of us has the power to enter a new world. All we have to do is change our mind.”
Which is excellent, in an abstractly philosophical, yeah I-should-maybe-remember-that kind of way, thinking we’ll find an opportunity to ‘try it out’, in order to feel different at some point.
But of course it doesn’t work like that.
As always, it’s the other way round, isn’t it?
So we maybe hear it discussed on a podcast, or read a quote, and it sort of tickles our fancy and has us nodding our heads a bit and then days later … BAM! … the concept is made very real for us, in an everyday situation.
(And if you’re me, you write about it.)
My ‘everyday situation’ was toiling uphill on a luggage-laden bicycle. As you read this, I’m away for a few days on the bike. And a couple of weeks ago, having fitted a rack on my new bike I thought I’d do an equipment test, locally. You know, make sure nothing’s going to fall off, before I start my adventure.
(You see, I do plan! 😉)
So I’m riding very familiar roads, but much… more… slooowwllyy…
And you know what?
There’s a whole load of stuff I’m suddenly noticing, that I’ve literally never seen before. It’s crazy.
Stuff that’s always been there, and that I’ve cycled past dozens and dozens of times and not seen. All because I’m in a different mindset.
I’m at ‘touring’ pace (as opposed to ‘Strava-segment’ pace 😉) and it occurs to me that the whole of my experience is different—I’m literally in a different world!—just because of a ‘change of mind’.
Not one I chose. Just one that I observed.
And so I will forever see my bike luggage as a portal now.
But I’ll also remember that at any moment, in any situation, I can be prompted by my feeling state to check in with how fast my mind’s going … and know that this particular life situation can show up in an almost infinite variety of ways.
Because there are portals to different worlds… everywhere.
🪐
Giles