When we don’t act—when we stick to the illusion of our significance—the risks are far greater. Only by leaving where we are can we get to where we want to go. You have to be “carbonized and mineralized,” Henry Miller writes, “in order to work upwards from the last common denominator of the self.”27 When you risk your significance, you won’t change who you are. You’ll discover it. As the ashes and clutter settle, something beautiful will soar.
