Have you ever heard of the inside-outside distinction? It’s the idea that the boundary by which we define ourselves, our skins, really creates and defines everyone and everything, else, too. Most of us take this boundary for granted and would never think of giving it up. Yet we seldom consider that, in addition to being the source of our identities, it’s really the source of most of our problems, too. These problems begin with a sense of want and need.

You would think that in order to escape the problem of the human boundary, you would need to die. There are those who attempt this radical solution, and it is not here recommended. That’s right. You heard it from me: Do not kill yourself. There’s no guarantee that you won’t just have to come back and face all the shit you tried to avoid the first time around. Or maybe for the umpteenth time. Unless you’re on a mountain locked in your truck waiting for the momma black bear to exit the vicinity with her cubs, avoidance ain’t a good strategy.

The truth is that once you’re born into a body, you have to follow the thread to its conclusion. Learn what you’ve come here to learn. Most likely, you came here because you wanted something. And the chances are good that you didn’t get it the last time around, that you’re still looking for it, or at least part of it. Or maybe you couldn’t hold onto to what you had. Or you had it and threw it away. Or it didn’t make you happy. Or you wanted more of it, or you wanted it delivered in a different way, for it to come in a more colorful package.

The problem we all have is that we want something. So, maybe you just need to look at everything differently, to hold it in a different light, and to realize that the world can’t really give you anything, because none of it’s outside of you. And that may be the point.

To erase the inside-outside distinction, you don’t have to get rid of your skin. You just need to jettison the idea that there’s anything outside yourself that can make you happy. If the boundary is just a fantasy, then there is no outside. And that means that we must look within ourselves for our happiness. That’s all you gotta do to give up you.

© 2022 by Michael C. Just

Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.

You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23

Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002

Four of his short stories have recently been published online:

Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)

The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW

I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October

Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within