‘Finding the time and the space to question, in a cultural landscape that doesn’t encourage it, is challenging.’*

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.  The very core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.”**

A year ago, I’d found myself pondering something I called concentredness, describing a state of being where our lives are most centred and connected – being joined up at the centre, rather than the edges.

Concentredness is about everything we are and have and our day-to-day practices and expressions all lining up.  It’s about per connectedness (with others, our world, our spirituality, and our Self) and our enoughness and our perseverance all lining up.  And it’s about what we do at our most selfless and our generosity and the way we live what we know all lining up.

All of these elements combine into what we MUST do with our lives.

Must is always risky, but we can mitigate the risk; what we don’t get is get a second life to live out our dream.

‘Gifts are the essence of art.  Art isn’t made as part of an even exchange, it is your chance to create imbalance, which leads to connection.’^

“Go, my child, find your way, make mistakes, learn, suffer, grow, and become whom you need to be.  Don’t be afraid.  You are free and I am always near.”^^

(*From Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question.)
(**Chris McCandless, quote in Chris Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit.  McCandless died in his attempt to live off the land in Alaska; it turned out to be a mistake – potato seeds, which normally would have been okay to eat, were toxic to his emaciated body.)
(^From Seth Godin’s V is for Vulnerable.)
(^^From Henri Nouwen’s Discernment.)