#37: Twins

I have an elder sister. We are siblings, not twins. And yet, don’t we all carry a twin inside us?

When I think of the hypothetical scenario of having a twin, then I think of the following three C’s:

Coexistence

Connection

Commonality

I would expect the two of us to have more in common than that which divides us.

So when Jonathan Kay talks about the «twin effect» and Martin Shaw writes about the «wild twin», they refer to one and the same.

Not a person of flesh and blood. Nobody with an email address and a twitter account. No one you or I would have ever met in real life.

Can we point to our twin in the room? It is there. All the time.

Kay describes the twin effect as the relationship of the King or Queen with their fool. Shaw, on the other hand, points to the ancient belief that we all got separated from our twin the night we were born.

The way I feel about my twin is that he is a part of me. The split-second before I feel a fool because of something I do is the moment when my twin gives me a hint. That is when my thinking kicks in and I play it safe. My thinking runs me rather than the other way round. Hence, I try to avoid those foolish moments.

Only a fool would read while walking. So foolish to do something, which you are not very good at, wholeheartedly. What a fool to give up a well paid job in finance to try and give joy to others.

Both Kay and Shaw stress the importance of seeing. It requires a different pace and openness. We need to be woken up. Our constant attempt to rationalize and understand prevents us from seeing. I love Kay’s illustration that we cannot «realize» any of that without seeing with our «real eyes».

…

This doesn’t make any sense?

No worries.

It doesn’t have to.

It is actually your twin reminding you. Right now.

Gone.

Too bad you thought about him or her.

Go with how you feel next time.

How foolish that would be?

…

You are curious about your twin? Then don’t miss fabulous Martin Shaw telling the story of the Lindworm so compellingly.