After months and months of complaining, it has become quite clear to me that Taylor is pretty good at picking topics. Why? Well, a lot of the times, I complain because the topics given to me are not things I usually think about. Case and point, this week's topic is "boundaries".
I think we are all pretty sure what a boundary is, in that we don't need anyone to find a dictionary definition of it—that is, it is a barrier (physical or otherwise). Simple, but effective.
In high school, I played on the tennis team, and often found myself to be painfully aware of the boundaries set before me. On the court you are given certain boundaries to determine whether or not a ball is in or out. While serving, that boundary is significantly smaller than otherwise. I, being a doubles player, was allowed to use the full range of the court. However, all that really did was expand my boundaries by 2 feet on either side (or something, I never measured or looked it up).
It's the same in many other sports. If you've played basketball, volleyball, football, American football, rugby, etc., you know that there are certain boundaries, lines, that you and/or the ball cannot cross, lest the point/ball goes to the other team. Additionally, boundaries form a good foundation on which the front row of the audience can be formed. So, in essence, those boundary lines are good for keeping players in the limits of the court or field.
As cliché as this is about to sound, you might also consider that a boundary is there is keep people in as much as it is to keep people out. If we move away from sports for a second, consider owning a home on some property. Normally, just because you own a plot of land does not necessitate a visible boundary; however, many of us are predisposed to build a wall or fence. (I mean, I think we are. I don't own any property so this is just a guess.) In this case, the wall is there to set where your property ends just as much as it is to set where your neighbors' property begins.
That's all good and fine, and no one would really bat an eye at you for playing sports or building a fence around your property. But what about your person or character? Why do you set boundaries between you and everything else?
Well, it seems to me that we set up boundaries because we want to keep ourselves safe while keeping everyone else out. (Again, I think this is true, but what do I know?) This has a lot to do with trust, which I wrote about a couple weeks ago and am too lazy to link here. The point being, we are afraid of opening ourselves to others because of the possible consequences. Or, perhaps we're more scared of ourselves. We don't want to change. We're scared of what opening up to others will do to us. I don't know. There's probably hundreds of millions of reasons out there, I'm just naming a few.
There is a such thing as a healthy boundary—I won't deny anyone of that right (not that it's my authority). I think certain boundaries are necessary to keep oneself away from serious harm.
BUT.
For the other boundaries, what are you afraid of? Additionally, what is keeping you from pushing those boundaries?
I think we don't grow unless we are constantly challenging what we have accepted as true. When we live our lives under the assumption that things are fact simply because we have heard them or have seen them, we live in an awfully closed-off world. When our lives are bound by should's and should not's, we begin to limit ourselves and, to put it harshly, diminish our humanity even if its just a little bit.
The reason why the title is what it is, is because I, maybe vainly, sometimes wonder why I can't take quite as high quality photos of my artwork as other artists I look up to. I see a lot of white walls used as a backdrop, as well as waterfalls. I don't have white walls in my house. I don't live near waterfalls. So, at some point I decided that those limits existed and I couldn't do anything about them. But that's not true at all. If I don't have a white wall at home, I'm almost 100% certain I could go literally anywhere else and find one. Waterfalls? Road trip time. These self-imposed limits have become more than limits, which are intangible. They've become boundaries and I don't even try to climb over.
If you play tennis within the bounds—meaning, you yourself stay within the bounds because you don't even want to risk the ball going out—you are severely handicapped compared to your opponent, who is not afraid to push the limits bit by bit. Sure, the ball may go out every now and then, but there's no better way to gain the upper hand than by stepping out of those bounds. Similarly, if you play football but are afraid of the boundaries, then your field has become vastly limited compared to everyone else's.
Stretch beyond the boundaries around you, whether you have made them yourself or they were made for you. Climb over whatever wall is holding you back.
You're a peacock, and you gotta let yourself fly!
// Brian
If you're new to Word Vomit Wednesdays, each week, Taylor and I will give each other and our friends topics to blog about, hours before midnight on Wednesday. The point being, exercise your brain and be vulnerable! No editing, no proofreading, just your thoughts and post. Let me know if you would like to join us!