As humans we have the power to fill in the missing bits of reality with our imagination and our experience. It's part of our survival software that allows us to process reality faster--or at least our version of reality.
We piece together reality partially based on 'object permanence' or the belief that an object continues to exist even when it can't be seen, heard, touched or smelled. It's what makes peekaboo so fun for babies. They have yet to understand object permanence.
It's also what gets in the way of seeing something in a new way. It's why some people are better at finding misplaced things than others. People who thrive on finding things that are different are emotionally rewarded for finding things that are different. They are more likely to notice when something is out of place.
A similar challenge exists for understanding events in the past. When we look back and attempt to describe how and why we noticed something different, we often get stuck pulling from our personal data set of imagined reality. It's hard to recreate something while also attempting to figure out why it was different.
With that in mind, consider how we rolled out of the first week of being confined at home and into the weekend and then back out again. I have heard from more than a few people that this Tuesday doesn't feel like a Tuesday. In fact a few people have said that they aren't really sure what day it is. What's that all about?
It made me think about what is it that makes a weekend a weekend? What are the triggers, real and imagined that tell our hearts and minds that it's now a new week?
We are quick to say it's the commute, or the office, or the people, but my sense is that we are reverse imagining those details and not seeing something deeper at play.
I'm not sure what it is yet, but come this Thursday and Friday I'm going to attempt to observe the situation from a point of increased awareness. I'm going to see if we go into the weekend differently.
Maybe by next week things will feel different.
I've imagined it being different already.