Field Notes #8

You think the way you see the world is how the world works.

You might be wrong.

What feels universal is actually local. Your mindset, your values, the way you operate—it all feels like truth because everyone around you agrees. But that agreement is just geography. Step outside your context and watch it fall apart.

I have an Irish cardigan. Thick wool, layered, built for damp cold that cuts through everything. Generational knowledge—my ancestors figured this out. It works perfectly where I'm from.

I live in Missouri now. Dry winters. The cardigan doesn't work the same way here. Ancestral knowing has limits.

In Daniel Quinn's book Ishmael, a gorilla tells a human: you're making a mess of the house because you can't see the bars of your cage. You think you're operating in open space. You're not.

That's the mindset. Extrinsic people want to be respected—they achieve, perform, exceed expectations. Intrinsic people want to be accepted—unconditionally, without earning it. Both think their way is obvious. Both treat others accordingly. Both create unintended conflict because they're globalizing something local.

You're not looking for peace between these. You're looking for a ceasefire.

You have an Ishmael within you. Ancient knowing that can show you where your "universal truth" is actually a localized cage. Wake it up.

THIS IS NOT TRAINING. IT'S CALIBRATION.

→ See the programs: Self-Guided — Bespoke Compass

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– Robert (Sherpa) Millar | Bespoke Compass