Will Smith’s Timeline

What is awareness?

Actor Will Smith. Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Two statements I’ve heard on podcasts over the past couple of weeks have stood out in my mind.

1. “Every four seconds, you create six new timelines.” — Amy Spicer on Episode 209 of Paranormal Karen
2. “We’re all texting while we’re driving.” — Royce Froehlich, Ph.D., on Episode 107 of Speaking of Jung.

TIMELINES

What Amy Spicer said in full was:

“It is the philosophy of Damanhur that every four seconds, you create six new timelines… If that’s the case, then literally all things are possible for you at any moment. You just have to stop lying.”

I don’t know what’s taught at Damanhur University, where Spicer is enrolled in classes, but this makes a lot of intuitive sense. In basketball, it’s possible to catch an in-bounds pass and shoot with three-tenths of a second on the clock. Lives can change very, very quickly.

Likewise, thoughts often come whizzing through our heads at break-neck speed. There’ve been times on the subway platform where I thought I could jump in front of the train and no one could stop me, or I could push someone onto the tracks before anyone could react. I don’t normally harbor suicidal or homicidal thoughts, and never acted on them. The follow-up thought was, “Of course I’d never do…