The realm of infinite potential.. joys and journeys.
There is great power in not knowing. Not knowing what is next, not knowing what to decide, not knowing how you will make it to where you know you want and need to be… When you do not know what is next, you enter the realm of infinite potential.”
— Brianna Wiest, The Pivot Year (Day 2)
Brianna West calls it “the golden vortex”. That strange, suspended space where you admit to yourself, you have no idea what’s next. But instead of failure, it becomes a possibility. I love that.
Walking forward without autopilot is a hard job once you’ve trained yourself to coast on routine. It takes effort to stay present.
Your brain wants the easy loop: the same streets, same habits, same conversations. Certainty feels safe… even if it’s boring.
But when you force yourself out of autopilot & you interrupt that pattern or break that loop.. It’s almost like you notice more details in the spaces between. The stuff you usually skim past or overlook suddenly begins to glow with opportunity. That’s where the golden vortex lives, not as a void but as a place full of unclaimed potential.
That’s where I’ve been forcing myself to sit recently. In the silence, the in-between moments. Psychologists call it cognitive flexibility… the ability to shift when life doesn’t go as planned. I feel like this is the opposite of clinging to certainty.
Research shows our brains cling to patterns (some *me* more than others) because that’s how it conserves energy. If you’re in a pattern loop, your brain doesn’t have to think of what could happen next; it already has a failsafe. Comfortable, predictable, automatic. But the trade-off is that you are then just going through the motions, losing that gift of presence.
Personally, that’s not how I want to move through this life. This is what I am reminding myself right now: being present doesn’t always look a certain way, whether it’s clean, put together, or whatever.
Sometimes, it’s stopping in the middle of a busy day- to take a breath, fighting the urge to replace the silence with the familiar.
Sometimes, it’s doing something so far out of your comfort zone that you genuinely have no choice but to wade into those waters. – THAT’S the practice. Letting yourself sit in it long enough to see, feel, hear, notice what it is you’re sitting in, not rushing to label it, or fix it, letting it unfold naturally.
No time wasted. – This is where it counts.
FKJ – Vibeys.
Here’s what’s playing while I write this.
I’ve found that when I actually make that choice, life has a way of surprising me…usually.
The right conversation falls into your lap, a plan you thought was falling apart, actually points you somewhere better. Even in the little things, like catching a song the exact moment you needed to hear it, it feels bigger because you’re actually paying attention.
Psychology would call this attentional control – your brain shifting out of default mode and into active noticing. Instead of your brain running on efficiency… it begins running on awareness… how awesome!
On that note, this weekend is going to be me REALLLLLY stepping outside of my comfort zone. Ya girl is heading to NY Fashion Week. –
I will say, I do a pretty good job of keeping my “movement” routines in check while I’m not home, & I’ve learned how to bring most of my habits with me. But I have a feeling there is nothing about NY Fashion Week that will feel at all like routine.
It is unpredictable, LOUD, and full of energy. All the things that I would typically politely turn down.
I’ll be honest, I feel like I tricked my brain into saying yes to this one. A good friend’s daughters are walking in a couple of shows, and because they invited me, I’m throwing myself into this chaos, knowing I’ll be with my safe people. That alone brings its own comfort to the weekend.
And listen, I’m not a recloose, I am an introverted extrovert… I generally speaking really, really enjoy traveling by myself to new places. I like the excitement that comes with it, and the feeling of being anonymous in a new city – nobody knows you, nobody expects anything from you. There’s a freedom in that, like you can just slip into the flow of a place and take it all in on your own terms.
First time in NYC in 7 years, though, so a little nerves are the outlier.
I hope that there’s a balance to what I speak about. I don’t think it’s a good idea to always throw yourself into chaos just for the sake of it. It’s more about learning when to anchor yourself and when to let go of that gravity.
There is a Stanford Psychologist, Carol Dweck, whose research shows that when you approach the unknown as a chance to learn instead of a threat, you literally rewire your brain to stay open instead of shutting down.
The golden vortex becomes growth, not danger.
Stepping into these new, unpredictable situations strengthens brain flexibility. Every time you interrupt autopilot, you’re laying down new neural pathways. That’s why it feels so awkward … your brain is working harder — but also why it’s so powerful.
This is where the golden vortex sits for me, in that tension — just being in it long enough to notice what I’m taking away from it.
Consider this my way of wading into this year, one day at a time.
xox, C.
