Think of intersecting circles in empty space. Imagine one ablaze with light and complexity, and the other impossibly dark and bereft of detail. In the center, the overlap, the vesica piscis, is where the experience of life happens for you and me and everyone who is.
Now, activate that almond by zooming in mentally on the overlapped space. Bring it near, and rotate it until you can see the waveforms forming its surface. Uncountable layers are interwoven, yet each has a signature, a fingerprint.
Find yours. Let the others blur for now. Do you see it? Do you see a familiar loop of oscillations? Zoom out and you see childhood spike into adolescence and flatten into adulthood. Zoom in and you'll see this year, this month, this week. You'll notice the crests and troughs as your line meanders toward All and toward Nothing.
Maybe the moments of proximity to All seem few and far between, and downright miraculous. Never let them lose the luster, even after you've seen them become the new standard. The closer you are, the more luminous the colors, the sweeter the sounds, the more gorgeous the patterns, the better the luck. "It's magic. You know. Never believe it's not so." You can go a little too far here in the gravity of astonishment, so keep a silver cord anchored back at center.
But there are those other moments, when you float into the Dark. The colors fade to grey, the music's out of tune, every face is the grimace of a ghost and every day is like Sunday. What grew is wilting, the senses assault you, and your legs and bedsheets weigh a thousand pounds. Your hell has frozen over and you're hollow, hopeless, mute.
Don't worry, you can modulate this.
Zoom in until you can see the ripples from individual actions and their echoes. That's the dataset you need, Programmer. Now call up the controls. Put all your strength into turning that first dial: contrast. Now you can really see those lines of force. Follow them through the fog of doubt into the light of possibility, wherein you may engineer solutions.
People may tell you to turn Brightness instead. It can wait. Do your work and the lights will come on just fine without you forcing them. There, see that? Each step reveals the next with clarity. But hang on. Maybe you couldn't find the Control Panel. Maybe it's covered in dust and dog hair and spent burrito paper. The system has provided a workaround. Look around for that blinking yellow light and listen for that overly polite squeaking siren.
Summon your strength and punch that button. Hit it like it gives you oxygen, because it will. Don't be alarmed when the emergency lights come on. It's all to help. You have taken the first step and you will not walk alone.
Please hold while we connect you with Technical Support. We're so glad you called.