Happy Boxing Day, friends!
“Put me in box, please.” Words never spoken by me…until today.
I am not a fan of limitations…or the word No…or the concept of wait. And don’t you dare try to box me in.
Yet…something is shifting in this Unexpected Life.
I have all the labels to say a box is not my natural habitat. In Myers Brigg’s terms, I’m a P (aka, keep my options open, please). On the Enneagram I’m a 7 (Enthusiast), a glutton for all life has to offer. With Strength Finders I am a Futurist teamed with Positivity. And the future tells me out of the box is good.
Yet…
Today I got the keys to my flat in Charlotte. Next week I will meet movers in Colorado and officially begin the process of reuniting with my belongings. My furniture and art and half used toiletries have patiently waited in storage for 4 ½ years…waited until my life had a bit more limits again.
As I think about this new box of Home—with its word Stay and its concept of Here and Now, I am energized.
In the past 4 ½ I have worked on 5 continents and over 20 countries…and I’m a bit tired. There is a great deal of research regarding the power constraints have on creativity. It’s curiously liberating. I’ve witnessed this in Cuba, being an island of artists creating in the midst of the challenges from a Communist Party and a US embargo. I’ve seen this in the Middle East and Europe–how refugees personalized touches of home in their UN issued tents with only a few possessions they had carried across mountains and seas.
I believe roots can make for a strong launching pad. Boxes can keep you in order or carry you safely from one place to another. And as the Hebrew Scriptures’ most famous poet and songwriter wrote, “I run free within the limits of the law.” (Psalm 119:32). Limits can offer any free-spirit a haven, if they’re the right limits.
So my question for you is: What box in your life is serving you well? Or how could you benefit from having one?
Cheers to good boxes…may the ones we find ourselves in ultimately free our creativity and give us energy!