“You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it.
You must learn to see the world anew.”
Albert Einstein
I recently started watching Star Trek again. Mainly episodes of The Next Generation, but also a few of the original series (both are currently available on Netflix). Star Trek was my favorite show growing up, and watching it as an adult I realized just how nuanced it was in its approach to an optimistic future.
Every episode is an examination of human nature, asks theoretical questions about what works, and applies solutions as experiments. After watching I realized I was thinking more clearly and critically about both the world and my own life, and I felt that absolutely no problem is beyond the power of the human mind and spirit.
I found that the real message of Star Trek is not that world peace is easy, but that we must vigilantly adhere to the angels of our better nature. We must think critically and carefully about challenges as they present themselves, and know that complex answers are more prevalent than easy ones.
I posit that the simplest, most direct route to such a way of living is to hone in on your life purpose and devote yourself to expressing it in the world. This is because as each person focuses on the light they have to give, they themselves become brighter and the world receives what actually serves vs. what we think it needs.
In this way purpose is a more effective tool than activism for changing the world. Here I do not in any way discredit the role of activism in social change, but those who have been most effective in history – Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela – are famous not just for advocating peace, but being peaceful themselves.
One achieves such levels of peace by surrendering doubt, ego, and lethargy to the fire of purpose. Be a student of the power inside you, and it will teach you how to create the life and the world you want to live in.
Watching Star Trek as the allegory it was intended to be, world peace represents the individual person achieving a state of inner peace. The aliens portray both literal issues we struggle with on Earth now (mainly war) and aspects of our personal character, both shadow and light. How the crew on the show interacts with these various aliens is a demonstration of how to address complex, bigger-than-life issues from a standpoint of inner peace.
Essentially, there is always a peaceful solution and a way to get there. If our time is spent not worrying about what will happen, but on thinking creatively, being our best, and giving our best, untold miracles will unfold.
I first wrote the above article not knowing how the American election would go, and now on the other side of it I understand better why I was so inspired, and why I wasn’t able to send it until today.
The world of Star Trek is not a distant, ever elusive fantasy. It exists right now in how you think and how you approach complex issues.
Today we have a nation that is much more engaged and not complacent (on either side). A lot of energy has been stirred up. The question we must ask is, how are we going to channel that energy? Do we become creative? Do we acknowledge anything is possible and invite solutions and outcomes we might never imagine?
What happens when peace is no longer a choice, but a necessity? Not just in the world, but your own life?
My recommendation: make each day a devotion to being your best and doing your best, and consume media that helps you do so. Besides Star Trek, other recommended viewings are the “Where the Hell is Matt?” videos, like the one below.
PS. Remember, television and computer screens are highly hypnotic. Our brains actually wire in the direction of and ultimately create what we watch. Therefore, Star Trek and images of happy people dancing might just save the world.
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