I feel stifled; I don’t know why. More like claustrophobic actually. It’s not a good feeling, but then again it’s not a terrible one. Structure makes me claustrophobic, but at least then I have things to do and a schedule laid out. See, at this point in my life I am more free than I have ever been, and that’s really saying something. I’m not a big fan of structure, schedules, lists … in fact I really enjoy spontaneity.

I think some people get left behind because they don’t function well in environments that stifle and enclose them. Really though, people who don’t perform or work well under these conditions are not given any other options. It seems like there aren’t very many of these people, but I think, in a way, we all struggle occasionally. In a way, we’re all kind of locked in the same cage, except it isn’t locked; everyone is just too afraid to leave because they don’t know what’s on the outside.

So why is everyone so afraid to find out what happens if they decide to stop being a passenger, and end up seeing what’s on the outside of the cage? I don’t know – there’s lots of reasons, but the point is there really shouldn’t be. When I say “the cage,” I’m not talking about the system or anything like that; in fact, most of the time the system is in place to help us. You see, “the cage” is all in our heads. We create it for ourselves. We try to create reasons why we can’t do the things we enjoy, like: it’s not productive, it won’t benefit us later on…even though it’s what we actually want to be doing.

So, why aren’t you doing what you enjoy?

The short answer is I don’t know, and I’m not here to tell you what matters. But make sure whatever you’re doing always matters – at least to you – because that’s all that matters, at least as far as I can tell. There’s something I live by, and it goes something like, “I don’t know where I’m going but I know where I’m at.” And that is what’s important. You don’t have to know where you’re going, but you should always know where you’re at, and why. If you know that, then you’re doing what matters to you.