018 - Shatter the glass bubble

You and I live in a glass bubble. You in yours, and I in mine.

At any point, our glass bubble could shatter. One day, you are comfortable, the next moment you receive bad news and the bubble shatters. It's a glass bubble, because we can't put it back together. You can't break an egg and put it back together to have it looking the exact same from before. We don't come out of an experience the same way we entered it.

And when most people's glass bubbles shatter like that, it's because of an external event. Not because they themselves shattered it.

But what if you did shatter it? What if for each difficult situation you grabbed your glass bubble and threw it on the floor? Reckless? For some it might be. For others, a breakthrough.

The glass bubble is your comfort zone. Each time you shatter and rebuild it, it will be slightly different, you will be different. The problem isn't rebuilding it, the problem is never looking to shatter it and rebuild it as close to what you had before.

One observation I made after moving to Finland and then, thanks to algorithms, surveying other brazilians living abroad was this: there seems to be two groups of people, one of those that shattered their glass bubbles, took the material from their new country and rebuilt it to match "the vibe", and others that carefully packed their glass bubbles, and, even seeing that it can't support their new environment, insist in protecting it.

Between these two groups you have, of course, different experiences and stories, but the core idea is the same. Maybe not so oddly, there seems to be even animosity and some kind of restraint between these two groups.

And, in my opinion, it's not for less. The first group understand a very incredible core idea and, even if unconsciously, the laws of physics.

Even if both groups of people came to live abroad in search for better opportunities and life, one group is ok to learn everything from the start, "become a baby again", shatter their old ways, rebuild themselves. While the other, holding on to their previous lifestyle (and I mean everything between the food they eat to the way they expect other people to treat them), are incapable of reaching their full potential, and, in many cases, live unhappily.

I, myself, am always on the group of people that are trying to shatter their own glass bubbles. It is a cathartic experience to realise you might be too comfortable for your own good. That you need to shake things up so you can be who you want to be.

I love thinking of the laws of thermodynamics to think of this subject philosophically. I believe that the universe is a reflection of itself. We only see the light of the stars that have already died millions of years ago. Their whispers reach us, travelling at almost 300 million meters per second to tell us their stories. The pattern in the roots of a tree look like the neurological network in our brain, and so on. Everything that is above is also below, everything corresponds to itself. "As above, so below."

The fathers of science are philosophers, afterall, such as Galileo Gallilei, and even though science isn't this sort of art (not purely, at least, as suppositions are behind discoveries, take Einstein for example), it can be poetic and almost prophetic in that regard.

The laws of thermodynamics can be seen in the behavioural patterns of humans. "As above, so below."

The first law of thermodynamics is that "energy cannot be created or destroyed". This relates to the transferring of heat, or by performing mechanical work, between the system and its surroundings.

Philosophically, you are always transferring energy with your environment, it's not possible to thrive if you don't have an environment to generate enough "heat", or proper conditions.

Instead of waiting for these conditions, shatter the bubble. Energy can't be created or destroyed, and you won't lose yourself in that process of breaking through your comfort zone either. Shatter the glass.

The second law of thermodynamics states that the for a spontaneous process, the entropy of the universe increases. Entropy is disorder, chaos. More spontaneity, more chaos in the universe. But energy isn't lost or created, it's transferred. You either become angry in your current situation (let's call it heat), or (and?) you kick a door open (mechanical).

Don't you feel giddy or elated when trying something for the first time? When something out of the ordinary happens, don't you feel "odd", misplaced, sometimes to the point of chaos? You feel the bubble shatter; your reality met with some philosophical entropy.

And while in physics we are regarding this to study such things as chemical reactions and black holes, in our metaphor we are using this to relate to experience and self growth. Both in physics and for our mental play, this is the most important law of all.

You can cause your own spontaneity in your life. You can break the comfort zone. You won't be less, a bad friend, a bad daughter or son.

Entropy (for our mental play) is the ultimate moment of breaking the glass. You can't remake the glass, but, philosophically, your chaos will increase. It's useless to try to build the glass as it was in the new system, for it's too chaotic and the reglued glass frail you can barely hold it (if you've ever moved you know what I mean, if you've ever moved abroad you know most of all).

You can use the entropy to also increase and remodel your universe within your new bubble and look forward to always having a slightly different bubble. Humans are funny in that way, because we always want things to be the way they were after a chaotic — or spontaneous or out of our control — event. Humans want comfort, but comfort doesn't allow for expansion. They're opposite extremes in the same spectrum.

That's not how physics works. That's not how self growth works either. "As above, as below".

The third and last law of thermodynamics says that a perfect crystal at zero kelvin (absolute zero) has zero entropy. A perfect crystal has no impurity and has achieved thermodynamic equilibrium. The physics of this is quite over my head to explain to you here, but philosophically — which for us now is what matters — this means that if everything is "as it should be", equilibrated, it is lacking spontaneity. It's also not transforming, growing, or changing all properties all together.

The classic "there's no security" or "security is an illusion". It's why people chase for happiness and never find it. It's also why, conversely, some people are always striving for more, and more, and more. Not because they seek happiness (some definitely get stuck in that one), but because life isn't, by nature and physics law, equilibrated.

There's no entropy at perfection, at equilibrium. It would be a fabricated, unreal life. Like turning a cheat code in a video game. There's no level of life, rich or poor, in which problems and chaos don't play a part. "As above, so below."

The second group of brazilians are holding on the idea of their perfect bubble they had in their previous life. The act of moving abroad has entropy embedded in it. Growing, being someone new has entropy embedded in it. You have to let that glass bubble shatter in front of your feet.

You can throw the glass bubble, at any time on the wall. As many times you want. That's why you have people like Arnold Schwarznegger, who started as a Real Estate machine, became the machine, then played the machine on movies, became a governor, and so on. These people understand entropy, they shattered their glass bubbles when they outgrew them.

I love routine, I love system. Systemphoria came to be because of it. Systemphoria is the aftermath of making a new glass bubble (you do need one to breath, like a space suite).

It's just that you can break it over and over again. I rebuild my systems every year. I'm not afraid to move countries, learn new languages, try new routines, take up courses in different languages, subjects, talk to new people. I love entropy in my universe.

> "The profound sense of euphoria experienced when transforming a chaotic and overwhelming mass of tasks and anxieties into a well-organized, coherent productivity system. This feeling often emerges as one witnesses the metamorphosis of disorder into clarity, where each task finds its place, priorities are established, and a clear path forward is illuminated. It is the elation of seeing potential chaos converted into a manageable and actionable plan, bringing a sense of control and readiness for the challenges ahead." — Systemphoria

The higher the temperature (in physics), the higher the entropy. The higher you want to go, the better you need to deal with spontaneity and, well, to a certain measure, chaos. You need to love to insert entropy in your universe (that's an odd T-Shirt phrase).

You will be forced to, multiple times, so just let the glass shatter.

Ps.: entropy actually correlates to disorder, and if you're curious why, checkout this page. It's a physics page, you're warned! Here's the page with all the laws of thermodynamics

PARTNERS 🤝 

Take full advantage of my favorite platforms and partners. I will always only recommend what I use.

🐝 BEEHIIV PROMO CODE — Make money with your own Newsletter! 20% off in the first 3 months + 30 days free trial → CLAIM HERE

🤑 REVOLUT PROMO CODE — The bank for solopreneurs that want to travel the world. Lounge keys, travel insurance, worldwide internet via eSIM, device insurance multiple currencies, and more! → CLAIM HERE 

NOTION PROMO CODES

🖥️ NOTION PROMO CODE — The all in one workspace for you to manage your studies, your life, and your business → CLAIM HERE

🤖 NOTIONAI PROMO CODE — Make your Notion workspace smarter with Notion’s built in artificial intelligence → CLAIM HERE