Hi friends,

Maybe it's the eclipse season stirring things up, but I've been noticing how often a tiny assumption can quietly snowball into a whole story I take as truth. This week I've been reflecting on projection and assumption, and how they shape the way I relate to what I think I know.

Over the weekend I ran into a friend and recalled a story that we had discussed years ago. I said, "You told me your dad subscribed to Rare Fruits Magazine when you were a kid." He looked at me strangely and said, "Huh? No he didn't. That was all me. And also, you can't even subscribe to RFM because it's a trade magazine."

In that moment I had to stop and retrace how I'd gotten it wrong. I realized that I had projected so much onto the story. When he originally told me he had Rare Fruits Magazine when he was younger, I assumed it meant from childhood. And how do kids get magazines? From their parents' subscriptions, of course. That assumption solidified into "truth" in my mind, even though it was totally made up. And I would have kept believing it if I hadn't said something and been corrected.

It made me wonder how many other places I do this — letting my brain fill in the blanks, then carrying those assumptions as fact. And just as I project onto situations, I've started to notice the ways others project stories onto me that aren't my truth either. It's humbling to see how easily we all rewrite reality without realizing it.

Our brains are actually wired to do this. A perfect example is what we "see" with our eyes. Vision researchers call it filling in the gaps — your eyes don't capture a complete picture of reality. Instead, your brain uses context, memory, and pattern recognition to patch together what it thinks is there. Most of the time this helps us function quickly, but it also means we often confuse assumption with truth.

The message here? Take caution with what you "know" to be true. Is it actually the "truth", or is it something your brain filled in? Don't rely so heavily on certainty. Many things can be true at once...or not true at all.

Reframe Prompts

Let's use this as a way to explore where projection and assumption may be getting in our way, and practice pivoting toward openness instead.

• What's something that's been bothering me lately, and where might I have filled in the blanks with assumptions?
• What's one area of my life where I could soften certainty and allow for multiple truths?
• How can I pause before assuming I know what someone else meant?

When in doubt, slow down — a pause creates space for clarity to reveal itself without the weight of assumption. Instead of rushing to fill in the blanks, experiment with leaving them open. Possibility can live there.

At the end of the day, projection is just your brain trying to fill in the blanks, turning fragments into stories that feel whole. The gift is catching yourself in the moment, getting curious, and leaving space for truth to reveal itself. When you do, those stories lose their weight, and life has room to surprise you in the best ways.

xo,
Christen

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