Paradigm Shift

A long time ago my brother Kevin was reading the book, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. I borrowed the book from him and barely read it, YET, I managed to learn some really important things from the little bit that I did read. One thing I learned was interdependence. Maybe I'll write about that some other time, cause today we're talking about Paradigm Shifts!

A paradigm shift is a change in basic assumptions. Covey gives the example of traveling on the subway there was a man with two sons, and the boys are running all over the place bothering everyone and being a nuisance. So he finally can't take it anymore and he asks the dad why he doesn't do something to control them. The dad replies, "We just got back from the hospital where their mother died. I don't know how to handle it and I guess they don't either."

So the basic assumption is, these kids are out of control because their dad doesn't discipline them. However, upon further examination we discover there is a completely different reason for the kids behaviour and now we have a....PARADIGM SHIFT!!!!!

These shifts happen all the time in life. I love them because they're like twist endings but in the real world.


If someone gave you a box of chocolates, I'm sure you'd be more than thrilled to receive such a gift, right? Who doesn't like a free box of chocolates?!? You'd think, "Aww, that's a nice gesture, thank you very much!"

But what if the person giving you that box of chocolates was an obsessive ex-boyfriend? Doesn't matter how wonderful the present is, because it's coming from this creep we now have a paradigm shift on our hands! I find that fascinating, the box of chocolates hasn't changed, they would still be delicious...yet now you want nothing to do with them simply because it's more than just chocolates here.

I experience these shifts all the time, but I recently encountered one and that's what inspired me to write about this topic today. Broken Social Scene has a song called "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl." I like this song a lot, mostly because it's kinda depressing and haunting and I'm drawn to that type of music. I don't know exactly what the song is about, but it kinda sounds like someone regretting the departure of their girl. I doubt this is the actual video, but here's the song nonetheless:


So it's a sad song...mourning loss.

The final line is,
"Now you're all gone
Got your makeup on
And you're not coming back."

I saw Broken Social Scene in concert a few weeks ago and they played that song. But something changed for me. When it came to that final line, rather than it just ending there in silence (like it does when I'm alone), the whole room burst into applause and hollers. I experienced a paradigm shift!

Rather than seeing the song as mourning loss, for me it now turned into celebrating loss. Celebration that the past has passed and it is not coming back. Celebration that once was sad is ALL gone.

Completely.

Totally.

Finally.

Gone!

And in that we can rejoice...