Imagining Rich and Thich

Imagining Me

I’m a dreamer. I’ll admit that. I love to think and dream of what could be. What I could do. What I could contribute. What my life might look like someday. I also think a lot about how I might build that life today. If I were that mysterious, older version of myself that I dream about, what would my day look like? What would I do? What would I say? How would I act? What would be on my mind? It’s a fun exercise to dream. It’s fun to imagine. But the past few days, I’ve been dreaming and imagining just a little bit differently.

Me as Someone Else

There are a lot of people that I admire. People I try to emulate. People that I think live the kind of life that I would like to live. So as a dreamer, I think about what it would be like to live their life. If only for a day, what would that day look like? What would I do? What would I say? How would I act? What would be on my mind? I can only imagine what it would be like, but I know this is only a dream. I think it’s important to have role models and people to emulate, but I think it’s more important to adopt the mindset than try to be someone else.

Someone Else as Me

So that got me thinking. Rather than imagine what it would be like for me to live someone else’s life, I started thinking what it would be like for someone else to live my life. What if someone I admired could spend a day in my shoes? Talking to the people I talk to. Doing the things that I do. What would they do differently? What would they do the same? What would their mindset be? It’s fun to imagine this. It’s fun to think, “what would they do?”

WWJD

When I was younger, the “what would Jesus do,” phase was passing through the youth Christian culture. Kids would wear bracelets stamped “WWJD.” A reminder to live today with that mindset. To me, it seemed a little shallow and cliche, but I understood the idea behind it. And yes, that is definitely a great question to ask and mindset to adopt. But I felt the need to add a slight nuance to the question.

WWRD WWTD

Two people I admire and have spent a great deal of time thinking about recently are Rich Mullins and Thich Nhat Hanh. Rich was the singer/songwriter who was heavily influenced by St. Francis of Assisi. Deep theological and philosophical thinker that lived on the fringe of Christian society. Then there’s Thich, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. Friend of Thomas Merton and author who has written several books and taught on the topic of mindfulness, meditation, peace, and calm. Rich and Thich look(ed) at life just a little differently. So similar in their way of thinking. So similar in mindset. Thinking about them led me to this question. If Rich or Thich could spend the day in my shoes, what would they do? What would that day look like? What would they say? How would they act? What would be on their minds? It’s a fun exercise to dream about. It’s fun to imagine.

Imagine_____, Imagine You

So here's my challenge to you. Take a moment to imagine your own Rich or Thich or Jesus. What would that person do if they were you? WW_D? What if you could watch that person spending a day in your shoes. What would that look like? What would they do? The cool thing is that we can try to live today that way. We can only imagine, but what a fun game. Try playing the game today. Dream it. Imagine it. Do it. And who knows, maybe someday someone will look at you and imagine, “what would (you) do.” Imagine that.

And have an awesome day!