🧱 TREE 455: The other wall
There is the kind of wall that creates space for you to do good work. There is also the kind of wall that limits your movement. I’ll tell you about mine.
I grew up thinking that I was special. And because I was special, life would be automatically awesome. Because I was special, I didn’t need to learn or do the same things as other people. So I didn’t go to university after high school. I didn’t learn how money and investing work.
I lived in a safe, protective cultural bubble. Inside that bubble, life was awesome and I was special. I got good jobs. People looked up to me. I met and married Christine. It was all good.
Then what happened was Christine and I had a stillborn child. That kind of tragedy is not supposed to happen when you are special. Not long after, the economy in my bubble fell apart. My special life became very difficult.
My mid-20s were hard. I would not like to live them again. But a wonderful thing happened during that period. I realised I am not special. And that realisation opened a door in the wall around me. I found I was free to learn and do the things that ordinary, not-special people do. I love the freedom of being ordinary. I love that space to move in the world.
What walls did your upbringing build around you? (They are probably different than mine. Believing you are not special can be equally limiting.)
Samuel is going Over. His. Wall.
Chagall Guevara released their second album last month, a mere 31 years since their first. (Sorry, this one’s not on YouTube.)
I did go to university eventually. I loved it so much. I’m still learning how to do money. It’s not something I’m naturally talented with.
Grow beyond your wall.
Jeff