I love reading this paragraph from The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin.
"Consider detaching from the story of your life as it's happening. The manuscript of a novel you've worked on for years is lost in a fire, a romantic relationship breaks up when you thought it was going well, you lose a job you care about. As hard as it may seem, seek to experience these events as though watching a movie. You're observing a dramatic scene where the protagonist faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge. It's you but it's not you. Instead of sinking into the pain of heartbreak or the stress of being laid off or the grief of loss, if practicing detachment, the response might be: 'I wasn't expecting that plot twist. I wonder what's going to happen to our hero next.' There's always a next scene. And that next scene may be one of great beauty and fulfillment. The hard times were the required setup to allow these new possibilities to come into being. The outcome is not the outcome. The darkness is not the endpoint. Nor is the daylight. They live in a continually unfolding, mutually dependent cycle. Neither is bad or good. They simply exist. The practice of never assuming an experience you have is the whole story will support you in a life of possibility and equanimity. When we obsessively focus on these events they may appear catastrophic, but they are just a small aspect of a larger life. And the further you zoom back, the smaller each experience becomes. Zoom in and obsess. Zoom out and observe. We get to choose. When we reach an impasse, we may experience feelings of hopelessness. The ability to stay out of the story, zoom back, and see new pathways into and out of a challenge will be of boundless use. If we allow this principle to work on us, as we work on it, our imagination frees us from the web of personal and cultural stories engulfing us. Art has the power to snap us out of our transfection, open our minds to what's possible, and reconnect with the eternal energy that moves through all things."
First and foremost, it makes me think that one’s peace of mind often necessitates the acceptance of the unknown, the unsure, the unclear, and the ambivalent. It's like putting your trust in the process itself. For many of us, this can make our most anxious feelings bubble up, and even our defenses stand guard.
Secondly, I think of the “in-between” space we aim to make in any therapeutic work - the space between a stimulus and our reaction. The awareness to zoom out, to have a moment to step back, to examine the real question before the question - Where is this question really coming from? Why do I think like this? What's behind this question?
Lastly, I take Rick Rubin’s “zoom in and out, obsess and observe” to mean a spacious mindset & mentality - a state of existence where “it’s you and it’s not you,” and where you get to choose beyond the “black and white” cognition, and beyond just seeing things as good or bad. (To reach this state, it might often need some help from psychedelics.)
I've found a lot of comfort in his writing, like a form of therapy in itself.