When I was a young girl in Lafayette, Indiana, one of my favorite things to do was visit the store, “The Mole Hole.”¹There isn’t one in Lafayette anymore, but you can Google them if you are interested. We saw one in South Carolina few years ago. They had so many awesome things that I really wanted, even though I had no money to buy them and no place to put them. My favorite by far was the pendulum²It looked a little like this. I wish I could actually buy it today when I do have the money for it..

I actually remember visiting it with two friends at different times³Separate friendships, and I enjoyed every visit. I loved to take the pendulum to as far as it could go and watch it swing across the sand making patterns that I couldn’t predict. As time went on, I began to expect the patterns I would see. Sometimes, I would give it a twist to see circles and squares form in the sand.

It wasn’t until I went back to college⁴I don’t remember studying this in High School Physics that I realized the life lessons involved in watching a pendulum swing.

First lesson – Watching potential energy change to kinetic energy and back again⁵Perhaps the origin of, “There and back again” as a motto. can be mesmerizing. When you pull the pendulum, you are transferring energy to the system. But, as it swings in its absolutely NOT random manner, it takes your energy which it receives as potential energy and transforms it to kinetic energy. Then the kinetic energy transforms to potential energy before it goes on a new path to do it all again.

Brilliant. Magic. Physics. 

The way that energy⁶In many different forms goes from potential to kinetic and then back to potential is like how we move through life with potential and actual expectations. Potential and actual control. Potential and actual wealth. Potential and actual heart ache. When we get to the maximum in potential, we have zero in actual. That moment of inflection is where we go a new direction.

Second lesson – Not everyone can predict it, but math usually can. I am not a fortune teller, but I have studied Newtonian Physics. So, while at 9 years old, I didn’t realize the pattern being made could be determined prior to releasing the pendulum, now I know it can.

One lesson from Newtonian Physics is that while you can ignore forces for a while⁷Like friction, eventually, you need to account for them. The pendulum slows down over time and eventually becomes an object at rest. So, if you want to predict the whole pattern, you can’t ignore the small forces that eventually bring about the end.

Third lesson – The pattern of the pendulum can be controlled.

I should admit here while all engineering is, to some extent, about controlling systems, I am not a fan of those engineers whose focus of study is Controls Engineering. I love the math. I love the concepts⁸However, it seems that making Controls Engineering your life works turns you into a person I would rather not spend time with. Maybe my sample size is too small.. But, acknowledging you can have some control over the pattern is important. Pretending nothing we can do can effect the pattern and the transformation between potential and kinetic is a lie.

Living with a lie only works while the lie makes you happy.

I am beginning to suspect that the pendulum as a metaphor is really important as I am looking at the transitions that are happening in my life these days. When you are at the extremes, it is all potential. When you have the most kinetic energy, you have no potential. Only momentum to keep going in the direction you chose long ago.

I also begin to suspect that the extremes, the inflection points, are very important. If we never got sad, or angry, or frustrated, we would never change direction. It is easiest, in fact, to make a change when you are at all potential. When you are in the maximum of kinetics, it takes much more added to the system to change your direction.

This physics metaphor may be a bit facile, but I challenge you to consider it is also a philosophical question to ponder. I also challenge you to consider where you are in your relationships, your work life, your family life, and your goals. Because, watching the pendulum, you might employ a bit of Controls Engineering to figure out what is next. Even when in the middle of momentum with all energy kinetic, that is another inflection point. You have a choice to look ahead and consider – where do you want to go next? And once you know that, figuring out how to make the change is as easy as π⁹Pun Intended..