Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia

A popular an enduring textbook/guidebook for happiness, Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings, by happy prankster, rowdy author and ranting visionary Rob Brezsny, is in the final stages of being revised and updated, and is slated for release in September, 2009. The original work was published in April of 2005, and has enjoyed a growing reputation as a guidebook for navigating the 21st century with a focus on everything positive, from the mere enjoyment of waking every morning to the experience of orgasmic completeness in everything. The revised and updated edition has 92 additional pages, and contains, according to Breszny, “ . . . a wealth of new stuff.”
 

Rob Brezsny

So - what is “pronoia,” and what has it got to do with happiness? Use of the word “pronoia” in its current form was reportedly started by counterculture hero John Perry Barlow, and refers to the suspicion that " . . .the Universe is a  conspiracy on your behalf." Simply put, pronoia is the opposite (or antidote, as Brezsny’s title suggests) to paranoia. The belief seems to have gained momentum since Barlow brought it into contemporary conversation, with updated hippy movements surging in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and the growing popularity of Brezsny’s book itself since its publication. And it’s an antidote that is desperately needed in the face of the nearly overwhelming and constant state of paranoia our culture appears to be steeped in.

    Pronoia is simply the ability to recognize that, rather than waking every morning to face what appears to be the constant challenges of every day, whether it be the doldrums (or downright misery) of your job, the pressure to perform and constantly “climb to the top” of one’s profession, or merely the feeling of general malaise that has risen from the current economy, we can wake up with ecstatic reverence and joy in the fact that merely waking up is the result of a fantastic chain reaction of miracles. So many miracles, in fact, that the fact that we wake up at all is a reason for rejoicing, and that alone is irrefutable truth that the universe is, in fact, out to support you.
 

Starting your day with a short meditation on that thought (or by reading it in Brezsny’s book the night before, and reminding yourself briefly as you regain consciousness the next morning) might lead to a more positive outlook. A little conscious re-programming now and then tends to do wonders for connections and perceptions that present themselves as the day progresses. Once you start to recognize the inherent and miraculous beauty in even the most mundane things, it becomes harder and harder to continue to give similar weight to the things that seem to be trying to weigh you down, or diminish your happiness. Give it a try (and, if you like, get back to me with your thoughts about it).

    It also follows that, if each of us can increase our basic level of happiness ourselves, then the general quotient of happiness will likely increase overall, throughout the whole planet, for all of us. Similarly, when you become used to appreciating beauty and happiness, you will begin noticing it in places you may have never seen it before, and exponentially at levels you my never have thought you would.

    A word of caution: your capacity for experiencing fun, laughter, well-being and calm may increase exponentially as well, which may cause you to change more in your life than you think - and that can become dangerously healthy for you, and even has the chance to bring about revolutionary change for all of us.

    Rob Brezsny, by the way, has been a figure in positive spirituality and pronoia for nearly three decades, and still writes and distributes weekly horoscopes in his own astrology column, Free Will Astrology. Published in over 100 popular magazines and newspapers across the country, the horoscope is also available as a weekly email or streaming audio. His brand of astrological guidance is perhaps the most erudite and comfortable one you might find, and his first-person style is more literary and humorous than most. He brings in perspective from Jung to Pluto, to the philosophical thoughts of Snoopy. He also tends to be consistently close to the mark (almost eerily, sometimes), in my experience over the past three or so years.

    Brezsny is also an accomplished poet and author, having written both “Images Are Dangerous” (1983), and “Televisionary Oracle” (2000) before Pronoia, and an accomplished musician and member of the early ‘90s band World Entertainment War.