Candid Conversations Newsletter: Range

Sometimes, the very things we once resisted end up being the very things that shape us the most.

I grew up actually  hating books. Reading, too. It was used as a form of  punishment for being outside “too long” or for always choosing to play. “Go pick up a book,” were the dreadful words that signaled the end of joy on weekends or holidays.

But funny enough, you can grow to love what you once despised. Books became something else for me over time. They became color on a blank canvas, like seasoning in a chef’s pantry. They gave me language, depth, and range.

Finding Rhythm in the Uncertainty 🥁

That range has helped me adapt. It has made me more flexible, able to find rhythm in almost any space. The more I read, the more I saw how ideas from different worlds connect. Bits and pieces from other people’s lives and experiences somehow started shaping my own.

What once felt like punishment turned into my quiet freedom.

A Year of Conversations 🗣️

A year ago, I started this newsletter as a way to write, to reflect, and to share the kinds of conversations and books  that changed me or made me see life, love, and people differently.

Some of those stories stretched me. Others softened me. All of them left a mark.

And now, here we are, one year in.

Lessons from Range 👨🏽‍🏫

One such book is Range by David Epstein. He talks about how success does not always come from staying in one lane, but from exploring, learning across different spaces, and being open to how things connect.

He calls it “kind learning,” where curiosity, adaptability, and creativity matter more than rigid expertise.

That idea resonated with me, and in some ways, it validated the way I have lived. Books did that for me. They made me curious about everything. They taught me that growth is not just about going deep; it is also about going wide.

It is the courage to fail,  stay open, to try, to keep learning, even when you do not know where it will lead.

I don’t know. Maybe that is what growth really is: the ability to evolve without losing yourself, to expand without forgetting who you are or where you are from, and to keep learning how to articulate that journey along the way.

More Than an Inch Deep and a Mile Wide 📏

Here is where depth meets breadth. Epstein talks about exploring across fields; Jung talks about exploring across selves.

One asks us to move outward with curiosity, the other asks us to move inward with honesty. Both require humility, the courage to admit we do not know everything, and the patience to listen to what life and the psyche are trying to teach us.

The more I read, the more I realized that range is not just about skill or experience. It is about consciousness.

The Shadow that Teaches 📚

In this anniversary edition, I wanted to revisit Carl Jung’s ideas about the shadow, the parts of ourselves we often ignore, hide, or do not want to see.

Jung believed that real balance comes from facing those parts and learning to work with them, not against them. That is how we become whole.

Humility helps us face the shadow that shows up as ego or pride. It is about seeing ourselves clearly, our strengths and our flaws, without pretending to be more or less than we are.

True humility is not about shrinking. It is about knowing your value without needing to prove it.

Meekness, which people often confuse with weakness, also deals with the shadow, but from the side of power and control.

It is about learning to manage the fire inside without letting it burn everything down. It is choosing patience when anger would be easier. Meekness is not softness. It is power with peace.

The Psychology of Range 👨🏽‍⚕️

Both humility and meekness show us something about range too.

Humility widens our view of ourselves and others.

Meekness deepens our ability to stay centered even when tested.

One gives us perspective; the other gives us strength.

Range is not only about knowing a lot. It is about being a lot, being open, adaptable, grounded, and real. It is the ability to hold more than one truth, to keep learning, and to make room for every part of who we are.

The shadow is not something to fear. It is something to read, a library inside each of us, waiting to be understood.

Accepting Without Ignorance and Letting Go with Indifference 🤷🏽

I don’t believe we have to have it all figured out, only that we stay open enough to keep learning. To stretch beyond what is familiar while staying rooted in who we are.

Range, I have come to realize, is not just about what we know or how far we have gone. It is about who we are becoming through the process — the balance between curiosity and clarity, depth and breadth, learning and letting go.

We are all somewhere in between the outer world of what we do and the inner world of who we are. And it is in that space of humility, curiosity, and grace that real growth begins.

Keep making room for your own range, because nothing is wasted if you keep going, keep learning, and stay curious.

With that, I say cheers to a year of stretching, softening, and seeing ourselves more clearly. 

As movement is paramount to the disenchanted.