Boxing day unboxed

Today is Boxing Day. Let’s think about this a bit differently than tradition offers.

Anything that IS and has it’s own unique identity is in a container. Your body is contained by your skin. Your home is contained by its walls. A marriage is contained by the identity, privileges and constraints of the culture. A religion (from the Latin word religare, meaning ‘to bind’) is contained by its dogma. Political parties have platforms that supposedly contain the ideals and ideal actions of its leaders and constituents.

Anything that defines also confines. What defines you right now?



Age, gender, ethnicity, language, profession, media preferences in books-movies-music-TV, hobbies, school grades, generational labels, religions and creeds, interpretations of history and pre-history, psychological precepts, politics, sports, clubs, food preferences, exercise or the lack thereof…. As many things as there are, are in containers, boxes.

Many of our most lasting myths and popular media tell stories about someone breaking out of a box, whether it’s a coming-of-age story, a stealing-fire-from-heaven story, the rebels against the empire story, the independence from the dysfunctional relationship story, or any of those stories we need to keep hearing.

So here’s a challenge for you to step Outside The Box.

Which of your own Boxes would you want to break through to explore other ways of being, other information, other inspiration, other worlds? Or which do you not want to leave…which perhaps makes it the one you’d do well to look outside of, at least for a little while.

Learn some conversational phrases in a different language, watch media different from your usual genres, or if you’re constantly consuming news-views-fake news-social media give it a rest for a week or so, read books you’d never otherwise think of reading, explore cuisines new to you, watch newscasts of the opposing political bent or attend religious services foreign to you and seriously try to understand that point of view, search other cultures’ mythologies for similarities, investigate some unfamiliar science, select a character or archetype different from your usual persona and act as if you are that for a day or so.

Travel is an excellent way to gain new eyes on the world. With today’s technology you can do a lot of traveling without leaving your desk or your recliner. Take yourself on a tour of places totally foreign to you.

What other break-out things can you think of for yourself or others to do?

Make your thoughts and deeds be dedicated to freedom, civility, dignity, expansion of mind and spirit, compassion, and joy.

Boxing Day tradition explained.

More thought-provoking and mind-freeing quotes by Robert Anton Wilson.

To discover more about your own boxes and how to both use their benefits and consciously plan your expansions, I offer consultations on the ArchePaths. Are you on the Path of the Warrior, Clergy, Scientist, Magician, Lover? What Path do you want to next explore to become a more balanced and effective individual? Free 15 minute consult.

And don’t be like a guest at the Eagles’ “Hotel California”, where – “You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!”