You’ve been told to “think outside the box” before, right? I’ve heard that phrase used in 100 delighting and frustrating ways. As overused as it may be, I think it has something true to teach us. What we can imagine is limited by what we’re experiencing – in other words, wherever you are, you’re in a box. It may be lovely. It may be excruciatingly painful. No matter what, that’s your current perspective.
So how do you “think outside it”? Do you just make shit up that you’ve never considered before?
That’s… ridiculously hard to do on command. Maybe you just need to squint really hard or squeeze your glutes extra tight or something.
Or. Maybe you could just OPEN the box. Open it a little bit.
Do one intriguing, terrifying or just not routine thing. Just one thing. And then maybe another, a little one. Every slightly different thing we do, every new practice we adopt, changes our perspective and gets us out of our box.
Then you’re not just thinking outside the box, you’re acting outside it. Way more fun. Way less trite.