Viewing your life and the universe as a circle rather than a straight line can create a whole new version of perception. Looking at the universe as a circle... all things come to an end and then start back again, or do things never end or never begin? In a linear economy, one may create, invent, or just perceive an idea and then after its use, it is thrown away. In a circular economy, ideas, creations, or just about anything never gets thrown away, it is always being used and it never runs out. This cycle is closed, rather than thrown away. A circle mentality follows this, everything is equal, nothing is above or below anything else.
"You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it..
Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle. The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. " - Black Elk, the Heyoka.
The circle of life, we start at the end and end at the beginning. No matter how large or small the circle is, it all ends the same for everyone.A circle can be seen as a spirit that keeps our reality in motion. Our life begins, and when the time comes, it ends. The circle can be seen as an idea of wholeness, perfection, and completion. If life was in a straight line, if it was linear, there would be no up or down. Life would remain the same at all times and once you're placed somewhere, you just move forwards.
Lunar cycles, tide cycles, daylight cycles, birthing, and even death cycles are viewed as circles. It's as simple as saying that if life was a straight line, there would be no life nor death as nothing would end and nothing would begin. Life is constantly changing from good to bad, bad to worse, and good to greater. Seeing how life is shows that nothing ever stops. We are always living, we always feel emotion and we embrace who we are due to the fact that it's not interchangeable.
Moving in a straight line is impossible. You need a break, a stand-still. You can't move straight through everything as you can't stop what happens in life. The idea of life being a circle shows that we not only have positive moments and negative moments but we move with them, not around them. The constant curve in a circle creates the image that we are always not moving as well as we are always moving in a motion that shows our ups, as well as our downs.
A line shows a beginning and an end, but not a new beginning nor a new ending. When something ends, it creates a new beginning for something else. When something begins, it creates a beginning for something else, to put it as simply as that.
Look at something as devastating as COVID-19. It puts all men and women in the same isolated world. Rich and poor, black and white, no matter which way you look at it, every person has dealt with the same issue, meaning that we are all equals.
If you are depressed you're living in the past and if you're anxious you're living in the future, this is a quote from Lao Tzu, it expresses the idea that we are living in the past, present, and future all at the same time. If life was a straight line, we wouldn't ruminate on the past and we wouldn't focus on the future, we would simply be moving forward with no curves whether that is up or down.
