There’s a reason why every hero story has a period of self-exile, grappling alone in the desert with one's demons. If you want to figure things out and get at your true self, your true essence—indeed, the essence of everything—you have to leave your tribe. You must fearlessly leave everything that is familiar, force yourself to be uncomfortable, alien, with nothing but your wits and your unembarrassed, unequivocal self. What protection will you have? Will you even need protection when you realize the whole look and feel of yourself is just a blueprint that was handed to you?

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