This is a short animation about 'ironic process theory' - a psychological idea. The more you try to suppress a thought or feeling, the more prominent it becomes. To demonstrate the concept you are asked not to think about a pink elephant for 30 seconds. The harder you try to avoid thinking about a pink elephant, the more you start to think of one. This animation shows my actual thought process when trying this exercise. I went from Apple to Spaceship to Cruise-ship to Sailing Boat and in between kept returning to the pink elephant. Quite an interesting idea. But can be applied to life's worries - the more we try to avoid a worrying thought, feeling or situation, the more prominent and recurring it can become. Trampling a fear won't make it disappear. Let if flow. Animated and created by James Sandifer 2019.
