1s and 0s, what in the world? Yes, computers and psychology have many things in common. First, how did all this begin? It began with watching a Netflix show entitled “Mr. Robot.” In an episode, one character asked another as to whether they are a 1 or a 0. This made me wonder how pervasive this concept might be and how it applies to being alive.
At one basic conceptual level, it’s pretty obvious that we are either dead or alive. Medically, for the most part, dead is dead. Is that a 1 or is that a 0? Depends. I invite you to meditate on this.
And if we are alive, how much of us is a 1 and how much of us is a 0? Well, first we have to choose what we want to be and how much effort we are willing to put into wanting to be that something. It’s very clear that some professions require tremendous effort and other professions require less depending upon the profession. And then there are jobs that are fairly mindless.
I would hope that your job gives you meaning that brings that job up to what you would consider a 1. And then there are others who seem to do well with repetitive jobs. That can be their 1. So your job can provide some high energy or your job may be a lower energy job.
And then there is living life without the definition of your profession. Here, you may have many 1s and you may have many 0s. I would not expect you to be excited about everything. Hopefully there are some things that give you meaning so that you can be more of a 1 than a 0. For example, you might be into gardens with limited offerings, or you might be into the gardens with many offerings. The more you fill up, the bigger your 1. Another example: you might be into creating sculpture, and that provides you with both a feeling of the 1 as well as some frustration at the detailed effort required. So, in this case, your 1 may be mixed with both meaning and frustration.
So, here’s the point of all this. The more you are of what you want to be, the more likely you are to have intensive meaning to the events of your life. There is literal meaning to having a full life and all levels of meaning in between. So in the spirit of introspection, I asked that you decide what your 1 is going to represent – and then think about how much meaning that 1 gives to you. I would then like for you to think about the spaces of your life that could provide more meaning.
So, how many 1s did you find and how big were they? Remember, you have to decide on your own measuring stick. I hope this meditation brings some additional meaning to your life.
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David is a professional psychotherapist and relationship counselor in Birmingham. Give David a call today if you found this article interesting, or if you’d like to talk to him about his therapy services.