I just finished watching The Dark Wizard, the documentary about legendary climber Dean Potter, and let me begin with a warning:
If you’re afraid of heights, this documentary may not be for you.
There were several moments when I literally could not look at the screen. Free soloing enormous rock faces. Walking a highline thousands of feet in the air with no safety net. BASE jumping. Wingsuit flying. It’s wild!
My palms are sweating again just writing about it.
Dean was obsessed with exploring human potential. And physically, he went places that 99.9999% of us will never go. Nor, for the record, do I have any desire to. I am perfectly happy exploring mine much closer to sea level.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about that phrase.
Human potential.
What if your potential is a 10, but you’ve only explored a 2?
And I don’t just mean what you’re capable of accomplishing. Of course, I still have things I want to create, build, and achieve. I hope I always do.
I mean all of it.
How much courage do you have that you haven’t needed yet? How deeply are you capable of loving? What could you create? What could you learn? Where could you go? How much pleasure could you allow yourself? How interesting could your life become? How much more fully could you express who you are?
There may be entire parts of you that you haven’t met yet.
And I find that exciting.
Because somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us start living inside the boundaries of what we already know about ourselves. This is who I am. This is what I do. This is what I like. This is what I’m capable of.
But what if that’s only the part you’ve explored so far?
Dean Potter explored the outer edges of what a human body could do.
I’m interested in the edges too – the edges of what I can create and accomplish, yes. But also how deeply I can live, how much I can enjoy, how brave I can be, how much beauty I can create and experience, and how much more of myself there is still to discover.
Maybe that’s one of the great adventures of getting older.
Not becoming less.
Finding out just how much more of you there is.
With love,
There may be entire parts of me I haven’t met yet.
That thought used to make me feel unsettled. Now it feels like the most interesting thing about being alive.
The Absorption Company Restore Powder
My morning routine doesn’t need more steps. But I do appreciate anything that makes taking care of myself feel a little easier.
The Absorption Company’s Restore Powder is an electrolyte mix I’ve added to my AM repertoire. It’s designed to support hydration, immunity, energy, focus, and recovery – and I’ve particularly enjoyed having it as part of my routine on workout days.
An Expansive Focus [From the Archives]
The way you frame what you want matters more than most people realize. The same goal can feel like freedom or like shackles depending on where you place your focus and the words you use to describe it.
This episode from the vault explores how a shift in perspective can change the way you pursue what matters to you – and what becomes possible when you do.
// TheEDIT
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