Unicon

 Are you familiar with the concept of paranoia? Paranoia is the irrational belief that the universe is conspiring against you. There is a little known opposite to this condition. It’s called pronoia. Pronoia is the irrational belief that the universe is conspiring in your behalf.

I believe in pronoia. When I first heard the concept of pronoia I thought if I am going to be irrational I would rather believe with all my heart that the universe has my back rather than is out to get me.

My wise daughter and I were having a conversation about pronoia as a desired state. She found it unfortunate that to remember the concept of pronoia she had to first think of paranoia and its opposite to get her mind there.

Monnya renamed pronoia Unicon which is a simple way of noticing and naming that the universe is conspiring for your good. Since then I have shared the concept of Unicon with others. All of us now recognize when something feels like Unicon. There are small coincidences that occur every day that, to me, have always felt like synchronicities. When I am missing someone and they call me, when I find in my home, exactly what I thought I needed to go out and buy. Unicon is when something seems to be a perfect fit for my mood or my body or my soul. Unicon is when an answer to my wishes or my intentions or my hopes and dreams is suddenly apparent right in front of my face. Unicon is when someone says exactly what I need to hear or it comes in a text or an email or a quote. Unicon Unicon Unicon

It is a delight to look for evidence of Unicon. When I look the evidence is everywhere. I know now that this belief in Unicon brings me delight and joy. I chose to believe that the universe is conspiring for my good. This belief creates safety and confidence. It feeds on itself. The more I look for the evidence of Unicon the more noticeable it is. The more I see Unicon the more I trust and have confidence that the universe is indeed conspiring in my behalf. 

Sometimes what is happening to me like a big disappointment like sleeping through some event I thought was important doesn’t appear to be Unicon. It appears to represent a character flaw in me. I also believe in ultimate Unicon. Ultimate Unicon is the belief that although the universe is conspiring for my good, it isn’t always apparent to me in the moment. Sometimes the Ultimate support of the universe with everything that happens to me is not even apparent to me in the same year or even decade.

My first divorce was devastating to me. I had the idea that without working on a relationship and making myself accountable for my unskilled behavior, my marriage would last forever. Also I was unaware that compassion for my young husband’s issues would have helped me to do good personal work. He was similarly delusional. When we split up I felt like the bottom had come out of my life. I was lost and scared and began, motivated by the pain of abandonment,  the journey of personal and spiritual growth that I have now been on for almost fifty years. That divorce woke me up and ultimately was the best thing that ever happened to me. It took me about seven years of spiritual seeking to get to that realization. 

I began to grow up and eventually learned that being an adult meant dealing with experiencing and releasing the past. My parents were not the bad guys, only flawed humans loving me imperfectly so I could learn to love myself.  Ultimate Unicon.

The big picture is a harder fit for Unicon. How could the suffering in the world and war and injustice and oppression and hatred and global warming and Donald Trump be part of the universe conspiring for our good? That isn’t clear to me at all from the vantage point I have now. Maybe all I can do is whatever I can to alleviate suffering, own my own stuff, comitt to learning and growth, and hope that out of all that more will be revealed.

What do you notice about Unicon in yourself and in your own life? I appreciate noticing Unicon because it makes me feel more grateful. I am grateful to share Unicon with you.