how did it start?

9 years ago. On a Thursday—the Orb appeared to me.

In the passenger seat of my car. Of all places? On my way to work. In the middle of a traffic jam. But I guess there’s never an ideal time for things like this to happen?

Or was there?


Until this point, my life was pretty routine. I’d taught the same courses for years. I even knew which color shirt I’d wear on which day of the week. Thursdays were 'forest green'. But the Orb changed all that.

the first encounter.

Of course, fear and confusion came natural. I mean, why wouldn't it? When an inter-dimensional being shows up in your life, your world turns upside down. (Hi, I'm Kyle btw – the guy who wrote the book. I thought you might enjoy some of the backstory. And maybe even join me in the next phase of the journey. But more on that later.)




As for the Orb. Well, before I could process anything. Three more spheres appeared. And each had a unique ability. The Orb explained all this, but I'm omitting the dialogue here. You can read the book's version of the full encounter here. But to sum up:
 
Sphere 01: could take me forward in time to whichever date I selected. And I could stay in the future for as long as I wanted. If I wanted to return to the present, I could do so at any moment. And I could do this over and over and without limit, jumping from the present to the future and back again.

Sphere 02: could do all the same things as the first, except this one went back in time instead of the future.

Sphere 03: could pause and unpause time for as long as I wished. And I could do this over and over just like the others.

If this wasn’t crazy enough, the Orb said I could pick one of the spheres and keep it forever. Otherwise, I could tell him to leave and he'd just disappear.

the first evaluation.

An hour later, I still hadn’t decided if I'd take one or not. But I arrived to school. And as I walked down the hall, with the Orb floating by my side, I kept replaying the options in my mind. Debating. Evaluating. Daydreaming.



I greeted the class with an apology for my lateness. And should've jumped into the course material, but instead, I asked them what they would do if an otherworldly being appeared to them?

Their confused expressions were expected. But I continued, explaining the entire scenario. Then I concluded with the same “three magic sphere” question. And asked, "What would you pick?"


my unexpected journey.

And so began a strange journey—

Each student answered. Some had brief responses. Others—deep, compelling ones. And whether they chose the same answer or not, each uniquely arrived at their decision. I was intrigued. They seemed to be as well. Something unexpected was happening.


Once class ended, I walked around the building. Asking coworkers. Acting out the Orb’s arrival again and again. Re-telling the story of the encounter, but removing myself from the scenario and replacing the listener as the main character. I'd explain the options. And what would start as confusion would always turn to interest. And pave the way for the most insightful conversations.

By the end of the day, and after much thought, I told the Orb my own answer.

And the Orb vanished.

 

more encounters?

I assumed that was the end of the Orb.

But the following Thursday, during an early morning trail run, I tripped on a rock, falling belly first to the dirt. When I got to my feet. There it was. Just floating there. Back with an entirely new scenario.

That day, I hurried into class. Presented the latest "orb" dilemma and anxiously awaited their thoughts. And it didn't take long. Our conversations effortlessly flowed from idea to idea. Person to person. Introspective discovery to discovery.

When class ended, I wandered the building again. And once again, the Orb  ignited strong opinions. Debates. And unpredictable rabbit holes of hypotheticals and ethical conundrums. Sometimes even deep personal revelations (and in my case, an eventual love story).

 

the end?

Each week I wondered if the Orb would return.

And each week it did.

Weeks turned into months and months into a year. Every Thursday—a new scenario, new options, and a whole new evaluation. And each week, the ideas grew bigger. The conversations longer. The introspection deeper.

I uncovered things about myself I wasn't even seeking. As were others. Sometimes it was liberating. Other times, haunting. The truth about who you are can do that to a person.

And then the Orb disappeared.



the orb evaluation.

Sometimes busy schedules. Job changes. Life events. You name it. They overtake your day-to-day.  But whatever the case, as unexpected as the journey began, was as unexpected as it ended.

The Orb stopped appearing. Or I stopped seeing it?

Thursdays returned to just a regular days of the week. But my world didn't. It looked different. I felt different. (And still do.)

And even though the Orb had gone, it didn't leave me empty-handed. It left something behind–

Over 400 unwritten pages of philosophical and ethical scenarios.



a new journey.

So I embarked upon a new journey: writing this book.

I took every day-dreamt encounter and every set of options and compiled them into one big collection for you to read.

And even though, I’m not there 'in-person' to interrupt your workday with an unexpected question about an intergalactic traveler. I most definitely want to know what you think? What you would choose? And how exactly you arrived at your decision?

The Orb Evaluation in its new form is a book. And when read alone, it seeks to provide you with an introspective journey. But it truly comes to life when shared and discussed with others. So please don’t hesitate to reach out. I can assure you that I will actually read your responses and am more than happy to talk further. (In its next journey, I am developing a podcast and am totally interested in hearing your thoughts about any of the "orbs".)


thank you.

So I hope this book takes you on a journey you didn’t expect. It certainly did for me. I hope it helps you uncover questions you didn’t even know to ask yourself. And I hope it’s difficult. Makes your brain hurt in a good type of way. And I hope you share the “orbs” with other people. (I bet their answers will surprise you.)

In the words of the Orb, “Enjoy the journey, my friend.”

Thank you and happy evaluating,

Kyle Young
P.S. The Orb started appearing again.



about the author.

Hi, I'm Kyle Young.

I live in New Jersey with my wife and two daughters. 

I'm an artist, designer, and animator by day. And well, I guess by night too, which came in handy during this writing endeavor to create the visuals for the website as well as the book cover and layout.

When I'm not spending time my with family or designing or writing, I'm often lost in thought pondering all those deep philosophical questions of "who am I?" and "what are we here for?" And it's that daydreaming fascination and introspection that brought about this entire project.

Hope you enjoy,

-Kyle