The story that Jonathan Flaum tells is about the only kid in his fifth grade class to get an A on a certain writing assignment. The students had to write a five-page long story, and the student achieved this by writing about a tiger attempting to escape from it's cage at a zoo. The tiger plans carefully and trains hard to make the jump out of its cage, but when it leaps out of its prison, it lands in another cage. To reach the five page minimum, the child repeats this action over and over.
Connecting the cage with the tiger helps us realize that the 'prisons' we surround ourselves in, which are made up of our fears, doubts, and weaknesses, are created by ourselves. Moving to a different country or trying to act differently won't change anything; to escape your cage, you have to thoroughly understand it, and instead of trying to leap out of it, you have to dig deep into the cage. Breaking through the dark unknown without the feeling of safety is the only way to create your true self.
I recently discovered a quote and have been trying to adapt it into my creative lifestyle: Don't wait until you know who you are to make something.
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