Everything that I see is me.

That took a long time to sit with. Because if it's true — and I believe it is — then the things that irritate me, the people that trigger me, the patterns I keep bumping into, they're not happening *to* me. They're happening *through* me.

The world is a projection of my perception. And it's how I look at things that deeply, deeply indicates how I am.

And how I look at things is shaped by grooves. A cart that has gone through these muddy paths for decades — built these grooves in the road. Even though you know it's not exactly where it should be, it's really hard to get out of the groove.

Sometimes it takes a hard turn to get out. A real one. The kind that costs something.

That's the work. Not the spectacular. Not the dramatic intervention. Just — slowly, deliberately — learning to steer differently.