consent

flicking back, through a notebook from a little while ago.

I see a quote from Andre Gide: to discover new lands, you must consent to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

and then my words, scrawled angrily: I never consented.

I think it is brave and brilliant to set off, to let go of what you know, to relinquish all that keeps you safe in the search of understanding, meaning, connection, life! But if it is not chosen, if you have been cast adrift, your ties severed, if you are flailing and gasping for breath, no land in sight, it can be terrifying.