The Idea

Recently, I've been thinking about my life. For some reason, I keep feeling like there's something missing  even though I seem to, on paper anyway, have everything I could want out of life: I'm married to someone who's not abusive, have a home, a job, family nearby, etc. And I honestly think that my life is okay, but it certainly doesn't make me feel fulfilled. Instead, I feel like running away and starting anew almost every day. My family has a very "The Secret"-ish approach to happiness, so I've tried to deal with that by focusing on the positives and thinking about what I want. And that works to some extent, but definitely isn't perfect. 

So, inspired by a conversation I had several years ago with a co-worker, I've decided to start the Maslow Experiment. Maslow's theorized that people had a certain hierarchy of needs that needed to be fulfilled before someone was able to move up to the next level. I think almost everyone has seen this before at some point. Or maybe I just feel that way because I have a psychology degree and almost everyone I've ever talked to about this also has at least basic knowledge of psychology. Which is odd, now that I think of it. I don't think I'd ever heard of this before going to college, but since then, it's like it's always been there. 

I realize that there are some definite problems with Maslow's hierarchy and people say it doesn't represent how people act, but my for the sake of simplicity, I'm not going to worry about it right now. This is a nice discussion on the hierarchy, its weaknesses and things like that. 

Anyway, my hypothesis is that the reason I fee dissatisfied and have trouble with some areas is because I'm neglecting the base of the pyramid. Using myself as a guinea pig, I'm going to focus on moving up the hierarchy to determine if that will make me feel better. I know that life fluctuates greatly and one day, you could be at one place, and the next in another, but it's worth a try to me. I'm going to see how long it takes me to go up each level and see, at the end of 6 months, whether I feel a greater amount of life satisfaction. 

That being said, I realize that there are things that I can’t stop doing while I focus on just one area. I can’t stop talking to my husband or going to work just because I’m not that portion of the pyramid yet. But I definitely can focus my attention on one thing at a time and get it done really well.