Venture Out

The body doesn't end with your skin.
The body ends where your perception ends.

The greater the perception, the greater the body.
The finer the perception, the finer the body.

The body is a map of reality.
But the map is not the territory.

Most of us live on the map.
We might refine it and increase it's resolution but we're still on the map.

We do things we're good at. Things we understand.
We avoid uncertainty, disappointment, the unfamiliar.

We say things that we know the responses to ahead of time.
We seek out careers that are established.
We pursue friendships that are like the ones we had before.

We crowd the areas of the map with the best resolution.
Our maps overlap, our bodies overlap.

It's comforting. We call it a decent life.
But is it really life doing the things that have been done before?
Things that can be predicted and anticipated.

At some point it's good to ask yourself the question,
is redundancy all you want?

The map can bring us home.
But home is not where we are meant to stay.

There is capacity that makes us good on the map.
But there is also capacity that makes us good outside of the map.

The courage to try something different.
The tolerance of uncertainty.
The discernment of risk.
The ability to suffer well.
The invitation that is ok with a yes or a no.
The pursuit of a possibility.

Adaptability and resilience on the map are not the same
as adaptability and resilience off the map.

Well adapted is not the same
as well adaptable.

Off the map is where performance ends and the real test begins:
Who are you outside of your comfort zone?
Who are you when your narrative falls short?
Who are you when you're most alive?