We were sitting outside on the patio when a friend of mine said to me,

people think they need to go wide.

They're wrong.

It's going deep that matters.

We celebrate depth. We want to be around deep people. They're the ones who change things.

And so-called deep people are not deep because they're born that way.

Deep people are deep because they find a world to call their own and lose themselves in it.

Depth is creating your own kingdom and picking up the crown at your feet.

In hearing that, sitting with that idea, it hurt.

It hurt because I knew that I'd sacrificed depth in order to chase more.

More of what doesn't matter.

More of what isn't me.

More of what might make other people happy.

What does that create? Well, surprise, you now get to be mediocre

at a ton of things you don't care about. Forget all that. Leave it. Leave it because the clock

is ticking. Leave it because you can spend a lifetime chasing distant galaxies and orbiting around someone else's sun.

Leave it because you can blink and realize you built your entire world in their image.

But what if I were to remind you?

You are made of dust from stars.

That's right, the same chemical makeup that once lit up the night sky.

My friend, the universe is already inside you. It's just that this one needs permission to expand.

This one needs you to stop asking the world for directions and understand you are already home.

...