Opposite directions

Stuck in one direction.

I didn’t know until I tried something different.

In the scope of problems that a person could have, having earbuds that constantly fall out of your ears is insignificant. I know this. I also know: it’s very annoying.

I have tried many, many earbuds with no luck, even the expensive white ones my kids have. When I couldn’t stand my cheap ones any longer, I splurged ($150!) on earbuds with promise—so hopeful to finally have something functional.

They stayed put, until they didn’t.

So I began trying different-sized ear tips, those little rubbery things that you squeeze to get off and squeeze to get on an earbud base. I tried a smaller size, then the next smaller size, each feeling like they fit better. But the earbuds continued falling out, and I became increasingly annoyed, disappointed, and mad at myself for wasting money.

This went on for a few weeks. Until I happened to notice one ear tip size I hadn’t tried yet—the biggest one. Ridiculous. That would never work. But what did I have to lose?

Shockingly, the biggest ones did work.

I had been headed in the wrong direction all along. Just like me trying to fix chronic despair, when I was always up in my head searching for the next insight that would fix it until I had no other option but to go down to my body.

How many things can be fixed by moving in the opposite direction?

I don’t know.

Switching directions is hard. It often requires facing the unknown. The head is a place to know things, which feels comfortable. The body feels unknown so not as enticing, to say the least, but it also knows things and is the only connection we have to feeling alive. Brains can only think about being alive. Bodies feel it.

Complement with A Body.