Reality Jumping: A Brief Manual for When You Become Somebody Else
The first time you jump, you jump forever.
There are a lot of ways to shift one's reality, to project into other realities, to warp awareness itself in a way that gets you outside your body, or feels like it. But the first leap is a doozy, made in necessity usually, an instinctive impulse to survive. Quantum leaping, or just 'jumping' for short, is the ultimate flight response--an escape so abrupt that reality itself is never the same for you.
How do we get here? Is there any way to achieve this without facing true danger? And is there any possible return to normalcy after reaching this strange state?
How do we get here: How to Leap
Evolution is an interesting means of empowering a species. Every danger your ancestors faced and survived had a chance of culling them away, but instead made them discover an ability that evolution granted them and not everyone else around them. Over time this guarantees that the strongest and most useful survival adaptations persist through a species, gradually strengthening the mass just as much as the first individuals to express the trait. But when I say evolution, I really mean natural selection, the ability of the natural/physical world to present challenges that our genetics either overcome or are defeated by.
Each challenge helps us discover either the natural gifts that our DNA grants us or some other survival tactic such as specialized training and knowledge. The natural gifts, the ones that don't require training, are very special. As they remain hidden until discovery, one can't know all of one's natural gifts without facing certain challenges that bring them forth.
This is why anyone can quantum leap, but they won't know how until they do it. It is an instinctual defense for someone who is in mortal danger, and therefore it's only discoverable if the self is convinced that circumstances are truly dire. One moment a person is faced with the possibility of death, and the next moment they are somewhere, somewhere, and someone else. It is the ultimate bullet dodge.
Can we achieve it without facing danger?
it is possible to make one's first leap without actually being in danger of losing one's life, but it can be very difficult because it requires tricking the self into believing the danger is real on a deep level. Many occult initiations have to do with facing death or some seemingly insurmountable foe and coming away completely changed by the experience. This is one way that a person can discover their ability. Another way is to be in a situation where it seems like there is mortal danger even if there isn't. This can be anything from an illusion to a near-miss to an incredibly immersive entertainment experience. The use of psychoactive drugs can sometimes increase the chances that the mind is fooled, especially if used in conjunction with a situation that seems dangerous even if it isn't. The increasing adoption of VR presents another option for initiation into one's first jump. All that is required, in the end, is for something to make one's instincts fire. The rest takes care of itself. Jumping is automatic, for better or for worse.
Will things ever go back to normal?
After one's first jump, the survival response is activated and jumping becomes possible. There is no way to deactivate the survival response once it was activated, so after the first jump, infinitely many are possible. In fact, it will probably serve one best if they jump a few times after the first time to get a sense of balance and find an equilibrium. You usually won't even need to try to find these first few jumping opportunities. Reality tends to want to teach the learning jumper how to find their footing. The reality of jumping often becomes the new normal.
The biggest challenge jumping presents is one of identity and self-definition. When one jumps out of their body, who jumps in while they're gone? If someone else is in one's body, and if one's self is in another person's body, then what does identity really mean after this happens? How to define one's self and what the self even is becomes a vital quest for the jumper at this stage. Gaining a deep understanding of identity helps pilot one's soul through space and time and gives context to the journey the jumper is now always on.
What happens to your body while you're gone?
Someone is always there to pilot the body. Often it is either an aspect of the subconscious or some part of the self that typically does not "front" day to day. It can also be another jumper that lands in your body at the moment you leave it. This can be an entirely different person from yourself or it can be another self of yours from a different time or reality or from a different lifetime of yours in the past or future. Who it will be is not entirely under your control, but it can be influenced by training, experience, and circumstances in your current reality. Jumping is like stepping through a revolving door--as you exit, someone else enters.
Often jumpers are people who are dreaming or unconscious, and they may be entirely unaware that they're experiencing another reality inside another person. If they're not aware they are jumping, they may default to what the body and brain is used to, performing basic tasks or jobs according to how you usually do them, carrying on conversations as if they're you until they too jump away and someone else (probably you coming back) jumps in. Think of it as an extremely immersive form of improv.
If the jumper is conscious they've jumped, then it's a bit more like Freaky Friday, where there is an awareness of the oddity of the situation and the need to keep up appearances of being a different person. Since there's very few people in this current reality who would believe a person who claimed to have jumped from one body to another, especially without any sort of physical evidence, most jumpers who are conscious they're in another person's body take every precaution to blend in and not be discovered. Call it the ultimate imposter syndrome.
What to do after you jump into someone else
If you find yourself in a situation where you are in another person's body, take care of the body the best you can and try to interfere as little as possible with the person's life. Try not to call undue attention to them. If you think you can help their situation in any way, try to be discreet. Also, be careful about making any bold moves until being sure of the situation. For instance, try not to spend much of the person's money without needing to, and try to make sure you're not putting them in a bad financial situation by doing so. If the person has loved ones or pets, take care to preserve their relationships and uphold their responsibilities. Do as you would hope the person you jumped into would do if they jumped into your body.
Whoever you jumped into, you may end up jumping into again in the future, especially if it was a compelling or enjoyable experience, and most especially if you bear similarities to the person, even superficial ones. Coincidences may drive some of the similarities, such as having the same first name or having lived in the same house but at different times. The overlaps may teach you something about yourself, the other person, and why you had an experience like this with them.
If you feel stuck or are worrying you will not make it back into your body, try not to panic or worry. This will only upset you and make your experience in said body worse. You will likely jump away and back to your own body soon, for instance when you go to sleep. You may also need to wait for the other person in your body to jump as well, so it may not be your decision when this happens.
The first jump can feel like forever
There's an experience among your early jumps where you will feel like you're jumping into every person that ever lived, one by one, with no way back into your own body. This is a normal experience and it is par of the way a jumper calibrates their ability and learns their range. It can be a bit difficult to handle in terms of personal identity. Know that you will eventually end up back in your own body and that you will probably end up back in it not long after when your jump started, even if it feels like an eternity has passed since you jumped out. Jumpers are able to leap through time as well as space.
Meditation, relaxation, and other forms of self care are very helpful after a leap, no matter what body you are in. When you take the time to slip into introspection, often your understanding will increase as you do so. New realizations about the nature of identity and reality may come to you now that you are in need of them. Allow your mind to teach you what happened. Reality itself will also teach you through coincidences and symbols that it presents to you with the sort of timing and context that will be very difficult to deny in the moment. Do not be intimidated by these incidents and instead know that reality is trying its best to empower you with knowledge and understanding of what is happening.
Jumping is a survival method that humans, and probably many other beings, have at their disposal once they've gone through a qualifying experience. Once you grow accustomed to doing jumps you may find them fun, informative, and a novel way of experiencing the greater reality we're all a part of.
