When the lines are blurred, gone, or ignored, opportunities are boundless… literally.
Did you know that ants will not cross a line of chalk?
Our world is full of rules, some we understand, others we do not. Many scientists call their discoveries “laws” because we are seemingly bound by these. As we have come to understand these boundaries, universal rules, and laws, we have invented our own. Humans either created or derived laws from nature and the universe to extend our lives and our well-being as we developed society. Everything we do in our lives is bound by invisible tethers. Laws, rules, regulations, immutable laws, and laws passed down through and to the entirety of at least every human being on our planet today, bind us.
All my life, I could see these laws and rules through some fourth wall. This isn’t a gift that a person could easily or naturally understand. It is something that is raw, not discussed or identified in any way other than some personal epiphany or through the question of how one has achieved a certain outcome.
For an individual living in the world, we have our own microenvironment which manifests itself through our own creation by way of sensory input into our connected brain. Our brain is wrapped in bone, wet and dark, the only light or sound it knows is that which it creates based on input from the body. We are literally the creators of our own internal stories.
We interact with each other, and we create our own reality. We aren’t in a simulation, but we are living in a manifested representation of our own construction. There is much that we don’t know about what is actually happening in the real world because our sensors are limited (we have physical limitations).
As individuals, when we have limitations, it is easy to assume that our limitations are the same as everyone else. In the same way, we may have abilities that exceed someone else. These are also bound by law. The human body, no matter what we do, can only extend so far.
We have laws of science, laws of man, universal laws, laws of religion, laws of society, laws of interaction, and many others that I can’t account for. We embrace law so much that we have bodies of work dedicated to consistently making and generating law.
The purpose of this post today is to speak to a ridiculously small but powerful concept concerning the “weak” laws of man in day-to-day life. It would be too much to go into depth about all of these “weak” laws but for today, I’ll address the concept and why it is tied to “crossing lines.”
In many ways, we are like ants and chalk. There are reasons that we don’t cross certain lines. As mentioned above, we live in a very tiny bubble of perception. We manifest our own reality based on what we see and hear from our senses and even with this, we are very limited as to what our sensors can pick up. We live mostly blind, deaf and from a sensory perspective fairly isolated existence. Yet, we still have enough to perceive some comprehensive “enoughness” which isn’t a word but more of a feeling or perception.
Within our understanding, we have a great deal of complexity. As humans, we constantly seek to simply complex things so that we can organize these and make them fit into our own personal perspective. When things are simplified, they become attractive because they are easier to understand.
If we accept these simple things as our own truth, we can fit this into our own model and follow and make this a “weak” law for ourselves. The result of this can manifest in many ways but fundamentally, we bind ourselves up by our own view of something that we manifest for ourselves.
A few words come to mind which drive these out for us.
- “I can’t”
- “I know”
- “Not possible”
When we declare that we “know” something to be true, it is more likely that we know the simple version that we created for ourselves. We now believe this to be the only truth even in the face of other factors which we haven’t examined. The result is some form of cognitive dissonance if we are aware in any way that something is off.
If we believe that we can’t do something, why would we even try to do something? Why cross the line if I believe that I can’t cross the line?
If something is “not possible” then we make it “not possible” by not attempting to make it possible.
For most of my life, I challenged things. I asked for reasons and questioned “why” or “why not.” I realized that some of this was nurture but some of it is nature. While there are boundaries, some can be overcome. The difference is that almost all people have the ability to move along this bound scale and ask questions. Most people have the ability to cross the line, they just don’t have the awareness of this ability. This is the “weak” force. It is like breaking gravity.
Where do we see this in our world today?
Do you ever drive through a neighborhood and wonder “how that person got that big house?” What the heck made these folks so special?
How do people become wealthy or famous?
How do scientists make new groundbreaking discoveries?
On the other side of it, people become enslaved, killed, restricted until someone realizes the weak force that holds them hostage.
Many people sit in wonder of how it is possible for these things to happen, yet many of them have the same ability. I am not seeking to tie this to any specific concept like wealth or happiness. This can apply to almost any area of life. It boils down to always asking, pushing, and questioning, “Why not?”
We can teach each other how to overcome and push the boundaries. We may also identify where certain conditions and boundaries exist for us to coexist peacefully with each other.
If you’ve ever wondered why some people are able to achieve something that seems impossible, the answer is they asked “why” at some point, challenged it, and walked over the chalk line.
How about you?
Are you ready to walk over that line?
The Cohenization Project 
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I’m sure most, if not all, have heard the story of the monkeys, the bananas and the ice cold water. So briefly the first monkey climbs the pole, goes after the banana and gets doused with cold water. After a while more monkeys are introduced into the scenario and they are prevented from going after the bananas by the more experienced monkeys even though the cold water dousing stopped years ago. The monkeys really had nothing to fear…but they didn’t know it.
So…what about crossing the line. I think the fear of punishment, loss, shame, retribution, alienation…all can be powerful motivators for staying inside the chalk or coloring within the lines as we are taught to do as children. Although we are no longer children, I wonder what makes those hand-slaps seem as tangible as if they happened today?
So then, at what point do we decide that a little cold water isn’t the end of the world and that we can deal with it… and maybe even realize that it’s actually refreshing…or that it will keep us from getting fat on endless bananas. We think something has to be a certain way until we stop seeing it that way.
But then there is loss. Loss, loss, loss. We’re so afraid of loss. Loss of relationships that aren’t great, but at least they feel somewhat secure. We know the routine. We know what to expect. Even if we find that our expectations have lowered beyond what we thought would ever be acceptable. Rather than lose a job that we know is toxic, we may choose to stay there. It’s not great but at least it helps with the bills.
Can we limit ourselves by crossing over a line? Yes, I think this might be possible. Cross over the line and things can open up, but things can also be lost. Can we limit ourselves by asking “why?” It depends. My initial feeling on this was to say that I don’t think so. Questioning is always good. Asking why leads to discovery. Even though not getting the answers we want exactly when we want them can be frustrating, frustration can be a strong motivator. Additionally, we can find answers that satisfy or resonate but that can change depending on what we need at a given moment. So complex. So confusing.
Maybe if we can get out of our own way and challenge the laws, norms and mores that we are spoon-fed and do the work to individually define what works for us, we might lead lives that are happier and more fulfilled. But I think we need to be prepared for the fallout because, when challenging the status quo, there is always fallout. And…there’s the possibility of being beaten to death by the other monkeys.
In considering crossing over the line…I say yes to that. But I’m also aware that the lines are constantly moving and changing especially once we become aware of them.
I have many more thoughts about this, but those will have to wait for another time.
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