I was in a prison/jail for 18 long/short days in China about 8 years ago. It marked a period of profound growth in my middle age life. Much like Europe after the middle ages, I came back to the renaissance that I always wanted.
Most prefer to live in stability. Which often means a routine that is dependable and predictable. Surprises means shock and should be avoided.
The most stable place is prison. The physical confinement is the only difference between the limited life of stability and the incarcerated inmate. Most just focus on the horror of a physical prison and dare not ask me about it. But could it be our self imposed limits are just as bad as incarceration?
After the ordeal I just wanted stability to live out the rest of my life so the horror of prison would disappear never to return. It kind of involved success, companionship, money, fulfillment, excitement... And I thought it was some destination or dramatic movie ending.
Instead I found stability in a journey, surety that failure will not destroy me, excitement in searching and finding, working out hard moments, even bad feelings that threaten to imprison me are there to make me better. It seems the limits we thought would protect also confines.
It takes experience and skill to navigate the truth behind the games we play to protect us. To live in a game that never changes as we grow makes protection into a prison. It took 18 days of peering out a tiny peep window of the steel prison door to show me that physical release was not the destination.
Another way to look at it is what a lot of money means. Money can be opportunity and a burden. It all depends if we are looking for guaranteed profit (which does not exist if there is change in the world), or freedom to venture out into rich lives nested among the imprisoned souls all around us. I seek out unlimited people yearning for renaissance.
It's all about a journey beyond just livelihood.
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