Timothy Leary is best known for his role as the poster boy of the 1960’s counterculture revolution. It was Leary who advised the world to “turn on, tune in, drop out”. Most people don’t know the side of Leary that was a writer, psychologist, futurist, and pioneer. Interestingly enough, he is also the first person to have their remains sent to outer space, where he is probably more comfortable than he ever was on earth. Leary was one of the most revolutionary minds of his time, and his insights carry just as much wisdom today, some 20 years after his death. One of my favorite things I’ve ever read was when Leary wrote:
“Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”. Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…”
