The Zig Zag

Welcome to my latest creative adventure. I'm calling it The Zig Zag: Celebrating a non-linear life.

Why? Well, because my life has been anything but linear, and I'm in the mood to tell some stories.

What does linear even mean? Oh, you know: college, job, marriage, children, retirement. There is nothing wrong with this linear progression. It's a good and solid choice. If that's your story, good on you. I wish you well.

But let's be honest, I've never really been good at doing what I'm supposed to do, culturally speaking. I constantly feel this tension between cultural prescriptions of linear life and what my own reality has been. I don't think the non-linear choices in life get enough air play in the zeitgeist.

Unfortunately, this emphasis on a linear path starts at a relatively young age. In an article in The Atlantic written by Dr. Madeline Levine last year, kids don’t need to stay ‘on track’ to succeed. But there is still an underlying force pushing kids to do so. She wrote this about an interview she had with a 10-year-old-boy.

“A 10-year-old boy sits quietly on the sofa in my office, his legs not quite touching the floor. I ask whether he’s ever thought about what he’d like to do when he grows up. With no hesitation, he perks up and exclaims, “I want to run a start-up.” He doesn’t even know what a start-up is, but he does know, in exacting detail, the trajectory he will need to take to become wildly successful in running one. Not yet finished with middle school, he has charted the next 15 years of his life: He plans on applying to the most competitive high school in town, hoping that this will increase his odds of going to Stanford. He knows he will have to serve time as an intern, preferably at Google. He is intent on being a ‘winner.’”

Sheesh. Let’s pump the brakes here. Whatever happened to being a kid? Or getting in trouble for staying outside with friends too late? This example from the article sure sheds some light on that most awful job interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Yikes.

It's time to normalize conversations about non-linear paths. College, marriage, a 9-5, running a start-up, these things aren't always for everyone. Let's release the pressure valve just a smidge.

Have things changed in this regard? Sure, maybe we've collectively pushed the ball down the field a few inches. But I think we can do better. Maybe not for people my age, but definitely for those coming behind, especially for that 10-year-old boy.

So right here, once a week, I'm going to share a story or two about how my life has zigged and how it has zagged. To serve as entertainment and inspiration.

This is my way to celebrate, honor and accept my non-linear path. Yes, I'm not always good at what I should do, culturally speaking, but the cultural tension is still real and sometimes unbending. It even sometimes tricks you into thinking that maybe the non-linear path is wrong somehow.

Nah. I'm stronger than that. I have amazing, ridiculous, and very human stories to prove it.

So let's noodle on "The Zig Zag?" What does it really mean in the world? I did a little research. By the way, this name is not to be confused with the well-known brand of rolling papers ;) That's why I've added 'the' and eliminated any hyphen nonsense. Anyway, back to my research. I learned that the zig zag has great significance in Native American culture, and it has a prominent place in both the spiritual and physical worlds. It symbolizes change that is rather immediate, and it captures the meaning of rebirth.

I love that. I think that's beautiful. I'm going to go with that.

Before signing off, I want to share a quote that truly captures how my zig zag life has felt: "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." ee cummings.

Here's to the fight. May we embrace it and never stop.

I wish you a zig zag kind of a week. Until next time.