Invented history (ICA)

This is a perception of the absolute absurdity of standing before all of history and knowing there isn't anyone to show the way. It's as though one has the only set of keys to unlock the future, there are no blueprints or even guidelines. An example is the joke when the Lord says to Noah: "Noah, build an ark", and Noah says: "Sure, Lord, I'll build an ark" – then adds thoughtfully, "Lord, what's an ark?"; or when the mythical stone age character Ronstrum, in the book "The Ancient of Days", discovers that by observing the sun's shadow every day he can measure time.

A dimension of this experience is a sense of awe, that is fear and fascination. Daring to create out of nothing means facing the prospect of ridicule and cynicism from those around one, and one experiences one's own profound doubt. Taking the burden of inventing the new means always thinking ahead to plan the next step. The only rewards are less sleep and more worry. But the adventure of shaping history is too great to resist and the knowledge that it has never been done before is very tantalizing. What has one really got to lose and furthermore what else would one really want to do ? One finds one's self taking on the world, forcing new images to emerge although they often come when one least expects them to. Even though running into the pain of derision, one feels one is the lucky one; one is aware that there is nothing in history that was not created out of the decision of some ordinary person to venture into the unknown.

This state is number 44 in the ICA Other World in the midst of this World.