So, this is it?
The life you worked for, dreamed of, maybe even sacrificed parts of yourself to get is finally yours. You’re tucked into your warm bed, wrapped in soft blankets, watching your favorite show (probably for the tenth time), sipping hot chocolate in a quiet and safe home.
You’re well-fed. Unbothered. At peace. And yet… something feels off.
The silence is too heavy. The comfort too still. The days blend into each other like muted shades of gray. A Groundhog day repeating itself over and over again.
There are no fires to put out, no storms to weather. A life that looks like a perfect picture that you bought but, as you put it into its golden frame, seems kind of distorted. Like it doesn’t belong on your wall.
You thought peace would feel like freedom, but this version of peace feels more like a beautiful golden cage.
Carl Jung spoke of the danger of avoiding our initiation – the inner journey of growth that begins the moment the outer world stops demanding things from us. When there’s nowhere left to run, no chaos to distract us, and the only thing left to face… is ourselves.
And in that silence—raw and unfiltered—we tremble. We stall. We wait. We retreat. We return to the golden cage and even close the little door and lock it. What we know can’t hurt us after all.
So where are you in your journey, fellow traveler?
Maybe you started but then as the hardships appeared, you ran away to your safe place, locked the door and stayed there, watching through the window, ready to go out but only on the premise that the storm calmed down.
Maybe you never started at all. You kept going where the wind was blowing, never taking risks and wondering why you wake up feeling aimless, waiting for the day to end so you can curl up into your soft bed, ready to “die” once again, into a deep sleep.
Or maybe you are right at the starting point. You packed your bags and have the ticket in your hand, but for some reason are unable to move. Your mind creates all these scenarios of you failing, making a fool out of yourself, making huge mistakes. So, you stay there like a hologram.
This place of stagnation, a lifeless plateau, is very well represented by the carnivorous island in the book and movie Life of Pi. After months in the ocean, Pi finds a magical island, full of life – animals, food and fresh water. Seemingly, it is all perfect – he feels safe, well-fed, and at peace. He can finally rest.
During the night, though, something strange happens. As the sun sets, all the animals start running away. Pi follows them and climbs onto a tree, where he finds in terror a human tooth, hidden inside a leaf. He realizes that while seemingly safe, this island is carnivorous, and if he stays there, the same destiny will befall him. He knows now that the only way out of the ocean is through it. Pi has to face all the storms and monstrous waves because the alternative is the comfort that will lead to his inevitable death. Before he leaves, he prepares for the indefinite sailing, taking food and water onto his boat.
In our lives, unfortunately, we don’t come across hidden remains of people who lived the way we did to warn us what will happen if we keep the shield of living a risk-free life.
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard says, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. Although we don’t see the warning signs, we can be sure that they are there, haunting us in our dreams and lurking in our subconsciousness. We might not find ourselves physically devoured by comfort, as Pi’s island threatened, but would it be a life worth living if we never took risks, never chased our dreams or even cared enough to find out what they were? We’ll forever be paralyzed by our fears, unable to go through the storms and challenges. We will never be fully ready, but like Pi, we can take the resources available to us, stack them on our boat and equipped with faith that it will all work out, sail on our initiation journey.
So, fellow traveler, what is your safe space? The wind will never be still, and the boat will never be fully loaded. But the journey only begins when you dare to set sail. Take these words of encouragement with you, and let them guide you forward like a map: “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” – Rumi
