Dancing outside our comfort zones

Conformity is one of the biggest threats we face in life because reality has a way of teaching you that complacency may let you get past a rough patch, but eventually settling will break you down. As an indie author I make the rules as I go and have the freedom to challenge myself as I see fit and I like being generous with challenges. From coming up with inspirational quotes to seeing how daft and silly I can be, there’s something immensely liberating about looking outside your comfort zone if only to grow further.

As humans, we often draw boundaries of what we can do, what we’re supposed to do and it’s quite telling that many people have their dreams limited by what they think they can or quite often CAN’T do. No outside limitations, just themselves saying their age, gender, physical capacity, and other details are their limits.

To be blunt, I say to hell with that.

Look outside your comfort zone.

Revel in the awkwardness. Rejoice in the challenges of the unknown and discover who you are while walking paths you have yet to tread.

Why should you do this?

Well I counter, why shouldn’t you? Why should you limit yourself? Why should fear be a reason to not try something? Why should self-discovery be limited? Why should we hold back our curiosity and creativity?

I’m constantly looking for different things to challenge myself because it is liberating to see something that I hadn’t done before suddenly become attainable and doable.

Still, so many people look outside of their comfort zone and say no thank you. Not for me.

I’m not talking about death-defying acts of extreme sports, I’m talking about writing, sharing poetry publicly, making a funny video, painting, taking photography classes, cooking, trying new foods and drinks, going to new places and exploring and experiencing. I’m talking about things you say you want to do or wish you could do yet don’t do.

For me, I adore going to new places to taste something I’ve never tasted before. I love reading a variety of topics because I think there’s takeaways in most of we have on offer. I love classic literature, greatly enjoy philosophy, love indie novels, adore fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels, and beyond. And I don’t limit myself. New and different? I’ll give it a spin. You know why?

How many times has someone said they don’t like something without even trying it?

That’s not me.

I’m the opposite. I’ll give most anything a try and if you see my music collection you’ll see how much I mean that. Sure, there’s a trend in things I like, but I don’t limit myself. The same goes for all my senses. I don’t discriminate in regards to what I watch, listen to, read, eat, wear, or smell. I love new experiences and the more I push to try something new, the more things I find to enjoy.

There’s a life to be lived and we get no medals for limiting or trying everything, but at least in one of those choices you can know for sure and discover a bit of yourself with every new bit of weird you come face to face, and hold your hand out to, so you can offer a dance.

Peace, love, and maki rolls.