E Squared by Pam Grout — Experiment #6

Theory: Your thoughts and consciousness impact matter.

Little beads of mould started to form over the rice and although I was only six days into the experiment, the smell started to over power my workspace. I almost gagged when I woke up yesterday morning to check on my experiments. After dumping the contents of each container in the sink, I sprayed Febreze in a swirl around my home. It didn’t really help. Try this experiment at your own risk.

I cheated. The experiment that Pam actually assigned in E Squared had to do with bean sprouts and an egg carton. This involved purchasing an egg carton (as I’m not a big egg eater, I didn’t have one on hand), dirt and bean sprouts. I considered making the purchases but when I came across a video she actually referenced in her book, I thought that this option would be funner and the fact that I already had all the supplies didn’t hurt.

The Experiment

I only did the experiment for six days, but the smell was too unbearable to even contemplating doing it for any longer. It was a sour smell. Our home was starting to smell like the inside of a refrigerator that has been housing something putrid (perhaps hidden behind the bottles of ketchup, milk and plum sauce). Do you get the picture?

These pictures aren’t the best quality, but you can see the yellowing of the contents and perhaps (after the above description) you can smell them too. What you can’t really see in this picture are the tiny freckles of mould. yum.

Both containers ended up looking almost identical at the end of the six days, although the one on the right had a few more bubbles. Both smelled just as repugnantly.

Although the effects of the experiment didn’t yield the results that I’d been hoping for, there was something sort of therapeutic (albeit slightly insane) about speaking to rice first thing in the morning and before going to bed.

To the rice with the word “love” written underneath it, I repeated all the most encouraging comments that I’d ever been told. To the rice with the word “hate” underneath it, I repeated all the nastiest things that had ever been said to me. I would focus on one grain of rice and pretend like I actually had the power to make it feel worthless and small.

I learned the importance of order when conducting this experiment. It’s not such a good idea to begin or end your day with hate. So starting on the right and moving to the left turned out to be essential. I can understand why Pam’s experiment focuses on growth rather than love and hate. Playing with these emotions can be tricky if you’re already struggling with self-worth and confidence.

If I Were to Do this Experiment Again

If I were to try this experiment again, I might consider building some sort of visual cue behind each container. I would put a collage of pictures which represent things that make me feel good (pictures of my boyfriend and I, my family, a cast picture) behind the “love” container, and pictures of things which make me angry behind the “hate” container.

I also think factors such as doubt and an occasionally unclear output of energy probably played a role. The person who conducted the above experience has studied the impact of energy for a long time. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like I have a lot to learn before I can make this experiment work properly for me.

Memorable Information from the Chapter

In this chapter, Pam talks about how we have the ability to control our physical form (the shape of our bodies) and our overall health using these same methods. If you believe that you’re ugly, no amount of $30 face moisturizer and concealers will help your mind to heal itself of this destructive thinking.

Louise Hay’s affirmations are completely inline with this thinking. You can find a metaphysical reason for every malady under the sun. I actually found myself agreeing with a surprising amount of them.

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