I don't know what any individual should do about crossing her own borders. I only know that I live a happier, more adventurous life, by crossing borders.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the value of stepping out of one's comfort zone to experience life more fully.
In this quote, Sherman Alexie expresses the idea that personal growth and happiness often come from crossing boundaries, whether they are physical, emotional, or cultural. While he acknowledges the uncertainty that individual choices carry, he emphasizes that embracing challenges and adventures leads to a richer and more fulfilling life experience.
In practice
During a motivational speech about embracing new experiences, this quote can highlight the importance of taking risks.
Gordie, the white boy genius, gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians, and he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reasons: the frikkin' booze.
My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.
I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it. If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.
We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.
I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.
In any situation that we find in our lives, when there is something that we feel should be better, we must exert effort to try and make it better. So it's the same socially, musically, politically in any department of our lives.
Commit yourself to do whatever it is you can contribute in order to create a healthy and sustainable future - the world needs you desperately. Find that in yourself and make a commitment - that is what will change the world.
Change is only another word for growth, another synonym for learning.
And don't be frightened: you can always change your mind. I know: I've had four careers and three husbands.
The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that.
Once you do away with the idea of people as fixed, static entities, then you see that people can change, and there is hope.
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