Twenty-Something: Heliotropic Effect
Your 20s are the most fascinating times in your life. It’s when free choice first meets opportunity. The only boundaries that exist are the ones that you create, so everything is truly off-script and on the table. “Twenty-Something” is a concept I’ve spent the past few years toying with in my head. The idea was to share a collection of ideas, perspectives, anecdotes, etc that would be meaningful to readers currently in their 20s from someone who’s already been through it (I’m 33). Perhaps it makes someone think differently about something that they’re going through or helps them realize that what they may feel is important today is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I know it’s something I would have appreciated. Initially, I thought this would take the traditional format of a published book, which naturally is 100% of the reason I’ve delayed this. Instead, what I want to do is publish some of these thoughts as a serial here over the next several weeks and see what comes of it. Hope you enjoy! -KS
No person survives, much less accomplishes anything by him/herself. How can I be so certain? In physics, there’s a natural law called the conservation of energy which states that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only transferred. What this really means is that life is fueled by a series of energy transfers, or “donations” as I like to refer to them. Your initial reaction may be at the chemical level, where this makes perfect sense: the food you eat contains energy that is transferred to you for use. But, if you take a step back, something far more profound is revealed.
You’ve probably all seen the image of a plant on a windowsill, inexorably bending itself towards sunlight. Aptly named the heliotropic effect, this phenomena is the innate behavior of living systems to be attracted towards energy that is life sustaining. However, this doesn’t solely pertain to plants, it also applies to us. We share an innate affinity towards people who have positive energy. Why do we find that charismatic actor, motivational speaker, or joyful subway musician so damn appealing? The answer is simple — just like the plant, we can’t create our own energy so we’re attracted to energy sources that are willing to provide us some. After all, it’s imperative to our survival.
Through this lens of thought, two things become abundantly clear to me:
- All of your life-force is a collection of energy donations from others. Some of these you may expend that same day, some you may hold on to forever. Be grateful for your family & friends, but don’t forget that one teacher you had that gave you a little extra tutelage when you were struggling in school. Or that boss or co-worker who taught you professionalism & work ethic when you didn’t know you needed it. Every bit of what they gave matters and makes you who you are today.
- Pay it forward. Just like there have been thousands of donations to your life that have shaped you, you have an obligation to provide that energy boost to someone else. You’d be surprised how something small — a phone call to a friend going through a tough time or a favor to a stranger — can result in something big. In fact, the most effective way to donate your energy is consistently incremental. Take the sun (a first ballot Energy Donation Hall of Fame inductee if there ever was one) for example: it doesn’t just beam a powerful ray of sunshine every so often. Likewise, don’t plan on some grandiose, but infrequent gesture; rather, focus on making a single donation every day. The best part? Because energy can’t be destroyed, it’s an eternal gift that will keep on giving.
If you enjoyed this, please click the heart button so more people see this! If you have any comments about what you’re not liking, please post them here or just email me at karthik.senthil@gmail.com. Like I mentioned, I’ll probably be doing ~10 of these over the next few weeks in different styles + formats, so keep reading and as always, appreciate all the ❤ and support!
