Self-Exploration

From environmentalist John Muir:

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

This quote is from a post on Courage to Create blog encouraging us to spend more time outdoors.

Out of context, I find another meaning in it as well. Muir's thought about going out or going in reminds me that I learn more about myself by going out among people than I do in solitary contemplation.

I do find meditation tremendously valuable, for calm, for allowing ideas to emerge, and as a religious practice.

However, to learn more about myself, there's nothing like a conversation with a client, clerk, husband or friend, about what I can or can't do for them, and what I want or don't want from them, to show me who I am.

Sometimes this "going out" takes more gumption than it might seem. I think that's true for a lot of us.



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