Ruts ...

The thing about a Rut is that the more it is used – the deeper and more entrenched it becomes. Sometimes this can be a good thing – and at other times it can be an obstacle t creativity and new thinking.
Streams follow ruts and become rivers – people live in their ruts and crystallize their lives. On the mat, we can get stuck in our ruts and limit the development of our overall game; it’s healthy, ever now and then, to jump out of the ruts we travel in and head off across new landscapes.
The seductive thing about a rut, is the familiarity it offers. We can travel along without the need for too much thought. We find comfort and security in familiarity – and we have been hard-wired to do so for a long, long time. During the course of mankind’s history, following familiar routines, living with familiar people and eating familiar foods have increased our chances for survival; but it is certainly not how new ideas and friendships were formed. Discovering the new requires that we step outside of our ruts and embrace the unfamiliar. Certainly this comes at a price, but the new experience can be extraordinarily, even profoundly rewarding.
Children never walk in the ruts. They are always experimenting without fear of consequence or ridicule. Children are natural-born explorers; we can learn a lot from how they interact with the world.
For depth, stick to the rut – for breadth, take a step to the left …

JBW