The well-known photographer Cecil Beaton said, “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” That wasn’t just a euphemistic suggestion on Cecil’s part designed to encourage others to pursue their hopes, dreams and goals – it was his life map.  He lived that ideology – he lived a life of his own design fueled by his own passions.  How many of us can say we do that with our lives?

It takes tremendous courage to live outside the lines society draws for us.  If you live outside those lines you expose yourself to being labeled as irresponsible and irreverent…unreliable and unpredictable…erratic and troubled…outside the lines are a plethora of labels designed to pressure you into conformance.  But if you see your happiness and fulfillment outside of the lines shouldn’t you visit the potentiality of it all?

I have found the new forty to be very liberating in this area.  I know myself better now than I ever have and I fear less.  I have become less and less tolerant of others’ opinions of what my life should be.  I merrily skip outside the lines and actively encourage others to skip with me. You see, I have realized something as of late that I somewhat understood intellectually before, but had never really fully comprehended as a rule of the universe – the most powerful thing you can do in life is live in your own truth.

My son Noah might tell you that this type of talk is either an excuse for my increasingly outlandish behavior as I age or a sign of my ever-increasing dementia – either way it signals in his mind that my days of freedom outside “the home” are numbered.  The reality is that those who stand in compliance with the play-it-safers even as they know their being calls for greater experiences often do so because they do not realize how far they could fly if only they dared to spread their wings.  Fear of failure has a way of keeping us in places that leave us unfulfilled, but feeling safe.  Ah, but life is, by its very essence a series of both calculated and daring risks and the potential of failure is inherent in risk.  Failures happen, but so too do amazing successes…and each begins as a risk.  In life you are always playing at your own risk, and once you understand that you are capable of seeing the lines as definitional of others’ risk temperaments as opposed to your own.

So if your truth is outside the lines don’t just stare at the lines and bemoan the fact that they limit you – jump to the other side or entirely erase the lines – assert your integrity of purpose with no fear or apologies.  Live a life of your own design fueled by your passions – happily play at your own risk. 😉

Day four hundred and thirty-five of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C