The whole and its parts

The whole & its parts

They happen to belong together

A coin has two sides, it’s hard to imagine it with only one side.

In most cases, the sides differ, which makes it easy to flip the coin and choose between two options. It’s either heads or tails.

It’s a choice that leads to believe that the decision necessarily is about distinguishing between two alternatives. It is seeing it as binary.

It’s either going to the cinema or going out to eat. It’s either buying this brand or that brand. It’s either joy or sadness. Or maybe hope or despair.

But actually, it’s just as much linked as the coin.

Choosing between the cinema or the restaurant is deciding how to spend one’s time. Buying from one or the other brand will be about which of the brands gives more pleasure.

It’s the same with emotions. Joy cannot exist without sadness. Hope is intimately tied to despair.

Taking the example of going to the cinema, we may see the hope of seeing a good film and some despair if the tickets are sold out when it’s our turn. By seeing the situation as one of two binary possibilities we disconnect ourselves from our aim. It lets go of the quest to enjoy a good moment. It gives the result or the emotion all the attention. It leaves aside, that it is just one moment in time and that the next can flip the coin.

We can focus on flipping the coin and stick to one side.

Or we can focus on what the coin is for. It requires remembering that a coin always has two sides.

 

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