Unusual times call for unusual behavior. I am stepping out of character, one foot in front of the other, softly out of the storybook. But just for a moment. I recall a memory when I was a child. I was in my best friend’s living room, passionately dancing a choreographed piece that I felt in my heart. To Mariah Carey? To Grease? Graceful on solid ground, but the thump of my feet crashed into the hardwood floor. Having such a grand time, I did not notice, but my friend’s mother did. “Girls! You’re so hard on the landing.” Ballerinas are to be light footed, invisible, appeasing. I immediately corrected these landings, with a new level of self conscious awareness. But years later, I found myself on box jumps. The same critical remark found me once again. So hard on your feet, land this way instead… I took these words to heart. And yet these people had never danced ballet, had never navigated a box jump like I have. Have never escaped death like I have. Is it not a great danger to trust in people’s words who have never walked your path? Life is ultimately a solo journey. Even though it is painful. Yet in our most helpless moments we reach out, grasping. In desperation we look outside of ourselves. I fell into the trap recently. Help me, heal me, fix me. Looking outside of myself. It was not me…. But you are the Man in the Arena. To be strong, to face death, to face heartbreak, is to be different…is so lonely. God reminded me that this is okay. Seeing things that others don’t changes you. And it’s okay to feel alone as a quiet messenger on a higher pursuit. I am reminded of The Alchemist. If you have read it, do not spoil it for others. If you have not yet read it, you must. The world needs alchemists. Pay no mind to nonbelievers or anyone who fails to see your pure heart.