We live in the world with a mental model – a model developed through our experiences. Each moment we step forward into the world based on this model.
Then the world presents experiences that we didn't expect and we are surprised. As we sit with the surprise, a new understanding unfolds that allows us to update our mental model – we come to understand the world incrementally better.
There are moments, however, that can radical challenge the fundamental construct of our model. It's not just an update of an existing model that we are experience but a profound redesign of it.
It's possible to go through life without this experience – many do. But for those who have this experience it's a profound Paradigm Shift that allows them to see the world in a fundamentally new way.
An opening of the eyes to a new understanding of themselves and those around them – moments that are very unsettling but deeply empowering.