The Blade Runner Solution

by Ruth Ann Harnisch on 01/10/10 at 12:18 am

Day 10

Did you see the comment from Rosemary on yesterday’s post about reinventing your life?

She mentioned a suggestion I make to people who are traumatized, bothered, saddened, hurt, annoyed, angry, or experiencing any other negative emotion because of something in their past.

I offer The Blade Runner Solution.

In the 1982 sci-fi movie, the newest version of sophisticated human-like robots called “replicants” are implanted with memories of their past, and given photographs and other keepsakes that reinforce their sense of being human. They don’t know they’re replicants.

My suggestion to people whose memories are painful: implant new ones. Pretend you’re a replicant. Get yourself a new story. Reprogram your brain and give yourself better memories of the past. Tell yourself this happier story, and stop dwelling on the negative thoughts that were “implanted” earlier. After you reinvent the past, you can reinvent the future.

The future is where you implement the Bon Jovi solution. In 1989, MTV held a contest to give away the house where Jon Bon Jovi spent his boyhood. (See the commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MGKC9-YiI ) In it, a bandmate asks Jon if he’s sure he wants to give away his childhood home. His response: “Aw, what the hell? I’ll have other childhoods!”

I’m having one now! How about you?