Reality Moves in Pulses

A long - exposure light painting created by a swinging pendulum, tracing out a luminous oscillating pattern. Even in apparent stillness, the motion of reality leaves its cyclical signatures. Life is not a straight line; it’s a swinging pendulum, a rising and falling tide. Look around and you’ll see cycles everywhere: Day gives way to night, winter to spring. Our lungs breathe in and out. Our hearts beat in lub - dub pulses, pumping then resting between each surge. We wake and sleep, focus and daydream, strive and relax. Reality moves in pulses—in rhythms and patterns of ebb and flow. To live wisely, we must attune ourselves to these natural rhythms and learn to ride their waves.

Ancient wisdom traditions understood this well. The Hermetic philosophers enshrined it as the Principle of Rhythm. In their words: “Everything flows out and in. Everything has its tides. All things rise and fall. The pendulum - swing manifests in everything… Rhythm compensates.” In other words, the universe operates like a vast series of pendulums swinging back and forth. The higher the swing in one direction, the deeper the swing in the opposite direction eventually. High tide is inevitably followed by low tide. Good times and bad times cycle in succession. This is not a pessimistic statement, but a compassionate one: it reminds us that no state, however extreme, is permanent.

When you’re on a peak, enjoy it, but don’t become arrogant or complacent—for the valley follows. And when you’re in a valley of difficulty or sorrow, take heart—this too shall pass, the climb upward will come in time. This understanding gives us equanimity: a kind of balance and calm that comes from not overreacting to either extreme. It’s like the centered poise of a surfer who knows how to balance on the wave’s crest and not wipe out when the wave crashes, ready to catch the next one.

Consider your own emotional life. No feeling stays forever. We go through moods that may last hours or days, but eventually they shift. Often when we’re elated, something will happen to bring us down a notch. And often when we’re despondent, a small kindness or just the dawn of a new day lifts our spirits. These are emotional pendulum swings. Knowing this, we can endure the lows with more patience (since we know they’ll change) and savor the highs with humble gratitude (since they too will change). A mistake many people make is trying to cling desperately to the highs and resist the lows, which ironically can amplify the swing. For instance, if you attempt to be happy all the time and then feel bad about feeling bad, you’re adding a second downswing to an already natural dip. Wisdom instead says: accept the rhythm. Feel the down mood without self - judgment; it’s a natural phase, and by accepting it, you often shorten its stay.

The concept of rhythm also applies to our energy and productivity. There are times in the day when you’re naturally more energetic, and times when you’re sluggish. Times in the year when you feel creative and outgoing, and times when you feel introspective or need to retreat. Modern society often tries to ignore these rhythms—demanding that we be constantly “on,” productive, and available. But our biology and psyche don’t work that way. Trying to go against these pulses is like swimming against a strong current; it’s exhausting and often futile. Far better to recognize your personal rhythms and work with them. If you know you think more clearly in the morning, plan your analytical tasks then. If you hit an afternoon slump, maybe that’s a good time for a brief walk or a nap if possible, rather than brute - forcing through with coffee alone. Even on a larger scale, there may be years of your life focused outward on career or social expansion, and then a year where you feel the need to pause, reflect, perhaps change direction. Honoring these impulses can lead to a more sustainable and authentic life path.

This principle of pulses also teaches us about the rhythm of progress. Progress rarely happens in a continuous upward line. Whether it’s recovering from an injury, building a business, or personal growth, we usually advance a bit, then face a setback or plateau, then advance further. Two steps forward, one step back. It’s easy to get discouraged in the “step back” moments if you expect constant improvement. But if you expect the pattern, you can use the backward step as a learning or resting phase. In physical training, coaches know that muscles grow not during the workout (which is stress) but during the rest period after the workout. The effort is one phase, the recovery is the complementary phase. Both are needed. Likewise, you might study hard for weeks (effort phase) then feel burned out and take a break (recovery phase). That break isn’t wasted time; it’s when your mind consolidates knowledge and when your motivation rebuilds for the next push.

Practical Exercise: Mapping Your Rhythms

Identify a cycle in your life. Pick an aspect of your life where you suspect there’s a rhythm: your energy level throughout the day, your mood across the weeks, or a recurring pattern in your motivation, social interest, or creativity. For one cycle (day, week, or month, depending on the scale), track this aspect in a journal. For example, every hour, note your energy level from 1 to 10, or each evening, note your predominant mood of that day.

Look for patterns. After gathering data, review it. Do you see a wave - like fluctuation? Perhaps you notice you’re most upbeat on Fridays and a bit down on Sundays, or you see a mid - afternoon energy dip consistently. Maybe every month you have one week where you’re more anxious or more energetic. Recognizing a pattern is the first step to working with it.

Adjust for the rhythm. Based on your observation, make one practical adjustment. If you found a daily energy rhythm, perhaps schedule demanding tasks during your high - energy window and lighter tasks or breaks during low - energy times. If you noticed a weekly mood swing, maybe plan supportive activities (like meeting friends or doing something uplifting) during the low phase, trusting that the low is temporary. If you found no strong pattern, that’s okay too—some aspects are more irregular, but at least you practiced paying close attention.

Practice “neutralizing” extremes. The Kybalion mentions the art of mental neutralization—finding a stable point even as the pendulum swings. You can try a simple version: when you’re extremely excited (swinging high), take a moment to ground yourself (deep breathing, remind yourself to stay humble and realistic). When you’re extremely low (swinging back), deliberately recall that “the pendulum will swing back” or engage in a positive activity even if you don’t feel like it, to help initiate the upswing. This isn’t to cancel the natural rhythm (which you can’t), but to prevent being completely at its mercy.

Embrace the current phase. As a reflective exercise, write a short note to yourself about the phase you are in right now in some part of your life. If you’re in an upswing—maybe things are going well—write about it with gratitude and awareness of its transient nature. If you’re in a downswing, write about what this phase might be teaching you or allowing you to do (perhaps it’s a time for learning patience, or for reevaluating goals, or simply for rest). This can help you find meaning in each part of the cycle, not just when things are peaking.

The goal of working with rhythms is not to control them (we can’t stop the ocean’s tides), but to flow with them gracefully. A skilled sailor doesn’t rail against the wind when it changes; she adjusts her sails. Likewise, when fortune’s winds shift, we adjust our attitude and actions. During high periods, prepare and store energy (literal or metaphorical) for the low periods—just as squirrels gather nuts in summer for winter. During low periods, do not despair; use them for quiet tasks, reflection, or recovery, trusting the cycle will rise again.

Understanding rhythm also fosters compassion. When you see someone else in a low phase, you can empathize and perhaps reassure them that it’s a season that will change, rather than dismissing them as permanently “negative” or “failing.” And when someone is at a high, you can celebrate with them without envy, knowing life has highs for each of us at different times.

One more subtle point: while we cannot stop the pendulum of life from swinging, advanced practitioners of life’s art learn how to not be swung to extremes internally. They develop a kind of center of gravity that’s stable. This is what Stoics sought: a mind that remains virtuous and calm whether in external success or disaster. It doesn’t mean feeling nothing or being static; it means not losing oneself in the motion. You observe the highs and lows like weather patterns, responding appropriately but not losing your inner balance.

In practical terms, this might mean cultivating daily habits or values that anchor you. For example, no matter what happens, you continue your morning walk or meditation, you maintain basic kindness to others, you keep perspective through journaling or prayer. These steady practices are like a rock around which the waves crash but which stands firm. They help you experience the rhythms without being dominated by them.

To sum up, reality’s pulses are part of its beauty. Imagine music without rhythm or a painting without contrasting colors—it would be flat. Our lives, with their cycles of joy and sorrow, effort and rest, create the texture of our existence. By recognizing and respecting these pulses, we become better dancers in life’s dance, neither resisting the beat nor being flung about by it blindly. We find our steps, our timing, and ultimately, our peace with the ever - swinging pendulum of existence.