Suspension of Disbelief
What separates an individual from the crowd? There are many factors involved, but there is an observable pattern amongst distinct individuals I see time and time again. That is their ability to make others “suspend judgement to the implausibility of their narrative.”
The term suspension of disbelief is coined by a poet by the name of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 and suggests:
If a writer could infuse “human interest and a semblance of truth” into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgement to the implausibility of the narrative.
This is a quote with a context to fantasy writings but in my opinion actually applies to other context as well. What equates to a good film or book? Why are some narratives more successful than others? Why is it that we read The Hobbit or Harry Potter and never question the implausibility of the narrative but watch a badly made film or read a badly written book and question every single thing the protagonist does?
When an entrepreneur builds a team and tells her team how the team is going to achieve the impossible how does she make her team believe that it’s going to work? How does she make her benefactors believe that this idea isn’t crazy and that they would be missing out on a great opportunity if they didn’t partake? How does she make her customers believe that they should buy her product and that her product is the best thing since sliced bread? It all comes down to one’s ability to deliver a narrative so clear, so believable and so distinct that the consumer of the message is able to “suspend judgement of the implausibility of the narrative” without any effort on the consumer’s part.
To take this further the Dalai Lama XIV says that “Love is the absence of judgement”. How does this tie back to suspension of disbelief? How do you express yourself when you walk out of a movie you love, even when you know it’s impossible for something in the movie to happen in real life? The concept applies to any narrative whether you are making a film, writing music, poetry, book, building a company, love, or just life in general. Think about how you feel when your out on a date with someone you like. What happens when you fall in love? You start to form your version of reality of that person, you no longer see their flaws and imperfections and you fantasize about all the things you are going to do together.
Your customer, employees, benefactors, potential lovers have to fall in love. They have to believe in you, and therefore your narrative and message. It matters not, if it is actually possible, if you can get the people around you to believe it.
The hardest part is getting yourself to fall in love with your own narrative. This is what it means to truly “believe in yourself” and to “love yourself”. To fall in love with your narrative and to first be able to suspend your own judgement on whether or not your narrative is possible, because you truly believe that it’s possible you will invest your soul into it. This is where you fabricate your own reality, and when passion emerges. Passion is the fire that will make you un-stoppable.
When you’ve established your reality, you are doing so in the context of your world, your defined version of reality, where all the rules are defined by you. This is when you see the world in a whole different light, things start to change, you are free from the cage that was created by you or the people around you. Here you will embrace your existence and discover your true purpose.
