We all have delusions. Some are crippling—like the belief that nothing will ever get better. Others are helpful—like the conviction that if we just keep going, something will click.
The trick is to choose the ones that serve us.
The artist believes, against all odds, that the next brushstroke will make the painting come alive. The entrepreneur believes that the hundredth rejection is just the last step before success. The person crawling out of grief convinces themselves that tomorrow might hurt a little less.
None of these are facts. They are stories we tell ourselves, and they shape our reality. A useful delusion can carry us through the parts of life where despair lurks, waiting for us to give up.
In sterquiinius invenitur—In filth, it will be found.
Jordan Peterson brought up this old alchemical phrase in a conversation with Theo Von, tying it to Carl Jung and the legend of King Arthur.
The knights of the Round Table set off in search of the Holy Grail—the ultimate value, the thing that redeems existence. But they didn’t know where to look. So, each knight faced the dark forest and entered at the point that seemed darkest to him. The place they least wanted to go.
That’s the rule. The answers you seek are buried in the places you avoid. The thing you need most is wrapped in discomfort, failure, and fear. That’s the way of transformation—not through the clean and easy, but through the mess.
Alchemy wasn’t just about turning lead into gold. It was a metaphor: that the muck, the rejected, the discarded, is where the treasure lies. And that applies to us.
Despair tells you to stop. A helpful delusion whispers, “Just a little further.”
If you must believe in something, let it be something that moves you forward.