At baggage claim every black suitcase looks like yours. When you want something badly, you start seeing it everywhere.
REFLECTION
WHAT THIS MEANS
Wanting something tunes your eyes toward it, and the tuning is crude. You start seeing the thing you are hunting for in places it is not, which is harmless at a baggage belt and less harmless when you are looking for signs that somebody likes you or that a plan is working. Desire makes a poor instrument. It finds matches very generously.
When you feel certain you have spotted what you wanted, check one concrete detail before acting on it. Ask what would be true if you were wrong, then look again.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What do you want so badly you keep thinking you see it?
MORE IN PERCEPTION & ATTENTION
- What feels normal in your house might be strange everywhere else. Visit friends’ homes with open eyes.
- Nobody sees your pores from across the table. Magnifying mirrors are for eyebrows, not for self-esteem.
- Pausing for three seconds before you reply is enough to notice what you actually want to say.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.