Living and Writing with Wonder
Embracing the mysteries of time and existence
The Mindful Writer is a place for us to slow down and take our time with writing and life. To celebrate the amazing fact of being here together and that, even though there are terrible things happening in the world, there are many beautiful and wondrous things too. This is a place where we remember that we are all in this together, and let all of that awe and deep connection seep into everything we write, and do.
Monthly and annual subscribers get a free Mindful Writing ebook that I have written and monthly Mindful Writing Marathon sessions. Founding Members also get a one-one Zoom to help develop their mindful writing practice.
Much of what I’m doing here is exploring how we can live and write more mindfully through wondering about the nature of reality, life, love and the experience of being a human, which can make us more empathetic and compassionate to ourselves, everyone around us, and all the characters we write in our stories.
So today’s mindful living and writing recommendation (adapted from a fiction course I wrote in 2020) is a documentary series I watched several years ago, Missing Links with Gregg Braden, which presents an alternative view of who we are and where we came from.
I don’t know if it’s a true one. The journey I have been on over the past decade has shown me that there’s not one single thing I can say I know for certain is true about what we’re all doing here and how we got here (or much else!). But exploring all the different ideas has been a big part of how I’ve become more mindful.
The series covers a lot of ground but today I’m looking at some of the ideas it presents about our perception of time and human history, and what this human life is.
Civilisation is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbour.
- Arnold J Toynbee
What I discovered in watching Missing Links is that new scientific and archaeological discoveries are suggesting that our 5,000 year civilisation is just the latest in a long line of ones that came before it. That humanity is on a repetitive cycle.
The mainstream history view, that's been taught to us since our school days, is that the development of human civilisation started around 5,000 years ago and has been on a steady trajectory of increasing knowledge and technology development since then. That all of us here now are living in the peak time of human achievement.
But many archeological discoveries are challenging that view. The discovery of the Gobekli Tepi temple site in Turkey is one of them. Archaeologists that have worked on the site say it was built at least 11,500 years ago, meaning it appeared 7,000 years before the Great Pyramid in Egypt and more than 6,000 years before Stonehenge in the UK. Many archeologists believe construction of the site started even earlier than that.
They say the temple complex has been built using advanced architectural and engineering techniques; it demonstrates a deep understanding of the alignment of stars and planets at significant times of the year; and many of the stones have elaborate carvings of humans and animals.
Over the years, at sites all around the world, archeologists have discovered items that have been labeled 'out of place artefacts' as they don't fit in with the timeline for civilisation that we've told ourselves is true. An example of these is the Antikythera mechanism, which is thought to be an ancient form of computer that was created between 150 and 100 BCE based on theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by the ancient Greeks. Its design and workmanship have a degree of sophistication that wasn't seen until around 800 years later. You can see other examples here. When watching Missing Links, one of the out of place artefacts that was shown appeared to be a fossilised micro chip.
Many call discoveries like these conspiracy theories and dismiss them, but I’m keeping an open mind. I enjoy exploring all the different ideas that people have about what came before us and what our reality actually is, which is different for people depending on the culture they are brought up in.
The Hopi for example have a very different concept of time to ours. Their language has no verb tenses so has no linear constructions for time. Buddhist and Hindu teachings are based on the idea of cyclical time, that our lives never really end, we just leave one cycle and start another. Many believe that we are capable of accessing the knowledge and memories of these other lives at will, if we just learn to tap into our powers instead of being distracted by the material world.
There's a Thai film that plays with the ideas of time cycles and reality really well - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. If you can find it streaming, I really recommend you watch this film. It was one of the first things that got me thinking about how we can move out of the traditional story/character arc narrative that we have been writing to for so long and do something different, while still ensuring that our stories are compelling and have emotional resonance. I’m running a workshop about this later this year.
In the film, a man is reaching the end of life in his current body and we spend time with him as he prepares for this. There are a lot of characters that come in and out of the narrative showing that all times are happening all at once.
Everything happening all at once is known as Eternalism. A definition of this from a scientific paper published in 2020 - Eternalism and Perspectival Realism About the ‘Now’ by Matias Slavov (a dense, mind-bending but illuminating read!) - is:
Eternalism is the view that all times are equally real.
In which case, what happened before is also happening now. What hasn’t happened yet in our lives is actually happening already. Which means that the present moment that so many mindfulness practices tell us to focus on, isn’t even real. It’s just another perspective.
And realising that everything that we all say and believe we know is ‘true’ is also just a perception, has been so freeing for me. It’s helped me to stop taking life so seriously and instead take time to enjoy the beauty, the mystery, and the incredible fact that I’m here experiencing it. I laugh a lot more, don’t get so caught up in the anxieties that used to grip me, and have a more open and giving approach to life and myself. That has got to be a good thing whatever it is that’s true.
What do you think about all of these ideas? Do let me know as I would love to hear from you.
With love,
Write With Me
As well as sharing mindful living and writing ideas here at The Mindful Writer, I teach online writing courses and Zoom workshops, host and teach writing retreats, provide 1-1 sessions and run free weekly writing hours. I would love to work with you to help you connect more deeply and mindfully to your writing.
Thank you, Amanda for an amazing read. ❤️
The realization that everything we say and believe to be true is merely a perception has been a profoundly liberating experience for me as well. It's like shedding the weight of absolute certainty, allowing me to embrace the fluidity of knowledge and understanding. I have come to see that our perceptions are shaped by our individual experiences, biases, and cultural conditioning, making them subjective and context-dependent. This means that what I consider true may not be the same for someone else, and that's ok.
This understanding has freed me from the need to be right, to defend my beliefs, and to convince others of my perspective. I can now approach conversations with curiosity and openness, acknowledging that there are multiple truths and that mine is just one of them. It's a relief to recognize that I don't have to have all the answers and that it's ok to say "I don't know." I have let go of judgment towards myself and others. This has foster sense of empathy, compassion and understanding, enabling me to connect with others on a deeper level.
I share your fascination for the history of civilization, and especially the unknown! My wife and I once visited Tulum, an ancient Mayan city right along the cliffs of the Caribbean in Mexico. It was truly amazing and some of the carved stones look like the one you posted here.