The Laughing Wolf

Way Of The Wolf: Threads

The other day in Hmmmm, You Don’t Think…, I alluded to the concept of threads: separate issues or events that end up having a connection, and in connecting reveal important and interesting things. This operates on several levels, but I tend to divide it into two parts, world and personal, even though there can be some overlap.

Threads are important to consider because I believe that things happen for a purpose, aimed at a greater good. In every bad thing that happens, some good comes from it. With my mother’s death from ovarian cancer, I actually saw one person have their life saved by what happened to her, and know many others benefited from her taking Taxoltm on an experimental basis. On a daily basis, I think that we are given hints, guidance, and, when we are stubborn, a dead fish upside the head to get us to see and focus.

In the world view, threads are important because by seeing them you can get a good idea of the big picture, and realize what is going to happen before it happens. You see things that others will miss. This is important because it gives you a chance to give warning if needed, and to make individual preparations for riding out, or taking full advantage of, what is to come.

What makes a truly good reporter or an intelligence analyst is the ability to detect threads. It is the ability to take a variety of information, much of it seemingly unrelated, and putting together the puzzle that it represents. Doing this means reading and listening to everyone and everything you can, filing stuff away, and letting it percolate in the subconscious a bit. It also means, as a corollary, having a broad range of interests and tastes, as this does help encourage the process. It also means paying attention to the trivialities.

Think of it as obtaining a critical mass of information. Separately, the little bits and pieces don’t mean a thing. Together, they suddenly come together to do strange and interesting things.

This was the process with some of my first stories on Soviet space efforts. I had been doing a lot of reading and studying about the program, trying to learn more about it so I could cover it well. I also paid attention to other things reported to be going on over in the USSR, on a more cursory basis. As a result, I wrote two articles that were more speculative op-ed pieces on the future of those space efforts. One was on what was likely to happen when someone died, and the other had a more serious bent: it was on the likelihood of a major launch failure.

To this day, I can’t tell you all the things that went into the meat of that article. What happened, however, was that all of a sudden enough pieces came into place that I saw a pattern to launch failures, one that indicated a major failure was likely to occur soon. The piece was written, submitted, and not printed because, I think, it was deemed too speculative. The next major launch, however, failed rather spectacularly and the crew had to use the emergency escape system.

This was not the result of inside sources or any cloak-and-dagger stuff, but simply having enough individual pieces that suddenly came together to show a larger picture. I had those pieces because I had made a conscious decision to pay attention, to learn, and to grow. It is something anyone can do if they are truly willing to learn, are willing to set aside the blinders of cultural mores, and keep an open mind.

If you try to force things into pre-conceived forms, the process will not work. Religious, political, social, and other prejudices eliminate your ability not merely to understand the world, but to follow the threads that will allow you to understand what is going on, why it is going on, and what is likely to come.

Yet, threads go far beyond global events and big-picture efforts. They extend to the ultimate big-picture, your life and growth. Earlier, I said that I believe that we are given hints and guidance, and threads are a part of that as well. From major life decisions to small everyday things, there are a multitude of choices and a corresponding amount of hints on how we should go.

I don’t believe in purely binary decisions, life is rarely that straightforward. Usually, we seem to be given a range of choices that cover black, white, and many shades of gray. There is the optimum solution or path that takes you straight to the most desirable outcome, many less optimum routes that will still get you there eventually, and a path or three that will take you straight to painful lessons and growth experiences. Paying attention to threads can help you avoid the latter.

In life, there are some things that are obviously right and wrong. These form the core of your personal ethics system. Most things, however, are not easily judged, especially when it comes to making decisions on what to do in meeting the various challenges that life sends your way. There are always a variety of choices, and your core ethics will help guide you away from some of the worst ones. Deciding among the others can, however, be quite interesting to be polite about it.

Your ultimate goal should always be to do what is right towards others and yourself, to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually. The best path for this is not always clear, and in fact it may not be the obvious path at all. In that case, there are usually hints to this in our daily lives. Comments from strangers, friends, and others may be part of it, events another. What matters is that you pay attention to them, let them percolate, and be receptive to what emerges.

This does not mean following blindly what others say, because threads – and related decisions – are rarely that straightforward. Sometimes the hints are that bold, but more often they are subtle because you do have freedom of choice in your actions. You do have the right to choose to do the stupid thing, but that does not mean that you won’t have to go through a painful life and growth experience as a result. You are allowed to be stubborn and foolish, and life will proceed to give you the lesson you deserve. If you pay attention, however, you will get hints on the right lesson and path for you and yours.
There is, of course, more to it that this. Paying attention to the threads in our lives helps us to see a variety of other things that might otherwise be hidden. From politics at work to complex interpersonal relationships, threads can help pull together the picture you need so as to know where the minefields are, what is safe to ignore, and what needs action.

On any level, however, what matters is your receptivity. It means paying attention not just to the things that interest or entertain you, but to many different things. It means challenging yourself to learn more. It means making notes of the seemingly unimportant details. You don’t have to keep all if it in the forefront of your mind, it simply means noting and filing in that ultimate computer that is atop your spinal column. Combined with maintaining situational awareness, it will provide you with what is needed to see the larger issues, challenges, and opportunities.

Threads are an important part of our life on all levels, and anyone can learn to make use of them. All it takes is time, a willingness and desire to learn and grow, and a conscious decision to set aside personal and cultural blinders so that things can be viewed and judged objectively. The latter is the hardest part to do, but, the rewards of so doing go far beyond threads, and will enrich all aspects of your life.

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