As a professional therapist, I don’t hold a monopoly on therapy. Therapy can be many things, and thank God for that! Talking with a friend, crying, practicing yoga, gardening or going on a solo backpacking trip can be effective as well. So is getting a tattoo.

Until recently, I never thought about getting inked, but a confluence of circumstances made it the obvious thing to do. As anyone who has gotten a tattoo knows, the procedure is quite painful. I knew this before going in, which is why I went. Not because I enjoy pain but because I wanted to mark my skin with a permanent reminder of something that I did not want to forget, ever, and because I was seeking an experience that would take me out of my comfort zone. Good therapy does just that. It takes you to your edge. The edge is a place of transition. Look at an animated object in front of you, a house plant or your own body, or imagine a seed in the ground. The edge is where the object ends as you know it. But does it end there?

Human beings are dynamic creations. Growth is the law of Life, and this applies to physical, emotional, mental and spiritual growth. Most days, we are being grown. We breathe, cells die and multiply, we memorize new information. But sometimes, we have to work on our own growing. We have to stretch ourselves and dare to meet our frontier. This takes courage, will, faith, and a bit of oblivion. All that matters is your journey. Where does your journey take you? Where do you end as you know it?