Pause to check

Do you know where the line is, between "embracing challenge" and "self sabotage"?

There was a literal line drawn between those two on the note taped to the wall. Because I was alone—and unseen—I stood there a minute (or three?) and thought, "well shit, I really don't know."

Late morning. 2km of quadrupedal movement across a bridge into Manhattan. Everything hurts—but my friends are nearby, so I'm sure this isn't literally insane…

Where's the line?

Great morning workout: running in the woods, climbing rocks, later an hour of great Art du Déplacement class. Then, "hey, let's do a little night mission?" Into a city I've known all my life—but want to see through new eyes. And just as we're about to leave the parking lot—on foot—there's a tremendous soundless cloud-to-cloud lightning display. I'm already exhausted and broken and it's raining…

Where's the line?

Or: build ground-breaking, absurdly-complicated things online for 35 years. Podcasts. Writing. Thousands of blog posts and thousands of quotes. But still, there's room today to create one more thing…

Where's the line?

Move, speak, build, share, remix, or whatever you do…

Where's the line?

Maybe the line isn't visible until you cross it.

The world is this continually unfolding set of possibilities and opportunities, and the tricky thing about life is, on the one hand having the courage to enter into things that are unfamiliar, but also having the wisdom to stop exploring when you’ve found something worth sticking around for. That is true of a place, of a person, of a vocation. Balancing those two things—the courage of exploration and the commitment to staying—and getting the ratio right is very hard.

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There's also a short page to help you get the most from Pause— including how you can listen to each issue of Pause in your podcast player.