I asked a room full of high achieving managers a question often directed towards kindergarten preschoolers, “What would be the one superpower you wish you had and why?”
A question I have often asked my own children whilst safely cuddled up and contented. Here no surprises, I get answers such as super-speed, super-strength and flying. A good mentionable was ‘invisibility’, especially after being caught red handed with an extra cookie from the cupboard. Mentioning that I would jump with fright at the sight of floating cookies often gets them giggling.
Back to the high stakes room where the managers made known their wishes for superpowers that might appear a little more down-to-earth. A common theme had to do with the nature of time, specifically being able to move back in time at will. Some slight nuances were present such as whether to rewind personal timelines or to traverse the annals of history. Echoing of the word ‘time’ around the conference table was unmistakable.
Wishful thinking
What made me curious though, is when does wishful thinking change from featuring fantastical feats to becoming more of a wearily whispered wonderment? From the whimsical desire to eat unlimited cookies unseen to the solemn wish to revisit and perhaps rectify the past?
Here let my meandrous nature take hold again. My last post made obvious I am an avid Star Wars fan and now I divulge my feverish fandom of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Specifically in the film Avengers: Infinity War saga - Thanos collected the infinity stones in a sequence that seems unremarkable too many yet I offer here some points of significance that make the film worthy of a rewatch. Common knowledge portrayed in the film was the stepwise collection of the power, space, reality, time, soul and finally mind stone. A parallel can be drawn here with respect to our transition from childlike fantasy with heroic powers to adult-like ambition for more self-agency. With the power, space and reality stones we attain super-strength, super-flight and invisibility. Subsequently when Thanos through dramatic struggle and sacrifice (Gamora😪) obtains the time and soul stones, we can draw analogies with ubiquitous adulting memes -- all we want is more time for ourselves (time affluence) and to make sense of it all in the end (transcendence).
Deduced off-screen is my easter egg, Thanos had in possession the mind stone from the beginning within the Sceptre. Many fans refer to it as ‘Loki’s sceptre’ and it heralded the emergence of ‘the Avengers’. It was likely that the original antagonist of the infinity war was the mind stone influencing Thanos to gather the stones and Loki to behave more ruthlessly than he normally would. Visually, the mind stone is larger than its omnipotent siblings and formed the ‘Pièce de résistance’ of the infinity gauntlet inevitably granting Thanos his universe altering snap wish. Half the universe faded from existence, and I believe more than half of us in the cinema held our breath till credits rolled on.
Snap Pause
May 13 - 19 is Mental Health Awareness week. So I asked ChatGPT 4.o, ‘what’s the simplest and most effective method to nurture mental health?’ and here’s what I got back:
The simplest and most effective method to nurture mental health is to cultivate daily habits that promote well-being. A particularly impactful habit is practicing mindfulness and gratitude. Here's a straightforward approach:
Mindfulness Meditation: Spend 5-10 minutes each day focusing on your breath and being present in the moment. This practice can reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance emotional regulation.
Gratitude Journaling: Every day, write down three things you are grateful for. This simple exercise shifts your focus to positive aspects of your life, fostering a more optimistic outlook and reducing negative emotions.
Integrating these practices into your daily routine can significantly boost mental health and overall well-being.
A common theme on what brings stress in our lives is the perceived lack of self control. To have agency in our our lives we imagine attaining powers to take back control. A snap of our fingers and things are as we want it to be, as things should be and often convince ourselves that is how things need to be.
…and then we take another breath for the saga is still unfolding.
Meandrousity
Reflecting on the evolution of our childhood fantasies of superpowers to our adult desires for control over time and life decisions reflects a profound journey towards understanding and managing our mental health. Following the analogy of Thanos’ rise to ultimate power through collecting the infinity stones we might have missed the ‘behind the scenes’ Mind stone’s influence at the very onset and how it finally culminated with the ‘snap’ ending. Violent shifts rarely achieve balance and difficult thought it may be, to harness the power of our minds it takes tremendous heart to pause. A pause, an atomic pause will set of a chain reaction of transformation in the form of habits.
Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself – Hermann Hesse
As you integrate these habits, remember that each small step brings you closer to a more balanced, empowered life.