Safe is a tricky word. You want to be safe, but you
don’t want to be so safe that you never try anything different. When I live the
dictionary definition of safe, I feel happy, carefree, and not afraid to be me.
I go through life, never taking risks, and not experiencing anything new. These
feelings lure me into safety, and persuade me to never leave. And why would I
want to leave? In reality, life isn’t safe.
Let me use an analogy my theatre
instructor shared with our class. After drawing one large circle and a smaller
circle adjacent to it, she labelled the larger one ‘magic’, and the smaller one
“comfort zones.” She said “If we want to experience real ‘magic’ in our lives,
we have to step out of our comfort zone and find the ‘magical’ life for ourselves.”
I decided to find out if she was right.
I have always been one to seek out life. My family
jokingly refers to me as the rebel child. Not in a nose-ring tattooed-bicep
sort of way, but because I was the girl who didn’t do exactly what the sibling
before her did. My older siblings have
all experienced and done amazing, worthwhile things in their lives. At the same
high school, they ran cross-country, played the piano, and earned their
associate’s degree before graduating high school. They didn’t really branch out
from those things. When it came time for me to decide which high school I’d
attend, I took a risk and attended a different school than my older siblings. I
did track, like the others, but with a different approach. Instead of long distance, I attempted to
sprint. I even tried pole vaulting. On my first (and only) jump, I was two feet
underneath the standard bar, but four feet above everyone else in my family.
And while I didn’t succeed in all of these expeditions, at least I tried. Since
sprinting and pole vaulting weren’t the magic I needed in my life, I found it
later in theatre. This was an extremely
big step because in my family, nobody does theatre. And not only did I go
against “social norms” in my family, but I had to sing and dance in front of
people I didn’t know. It was terrifying for me, but exhilarating at the same
time. As scary as it was to step out of my “comfort” circle, I found something
I enjoyed.
Vincent Van Gogh once said, “There is safety in the midst of danger. What would life be if we had no
courage to attempt anything? It will be a hard pull for me; the tide rises
high, almost to the lips and perhaps higher still, how can I know! But I shall
fight my battle, and sell my life dearly, and try to win and get the best of
it.”
I don’t want to live a “safe” life, as a stagnant person, feeling
the same emotions and doing the same things day to day. I am open to the
difficult changes that reshape and transform who I am as I experience
everything I can.
My theatre teacher was right; magic does exist. It is there
for the taking whenever I am ready.
