To search is to breathe.

Are we constantly searching? Is there a way to turn off the searching mind? And if we're always searching, how do we know we’ve found what we're looking for, how do we know we've reached the end of a search? And when or how does the next one begin? How do we trust the search and know that we are searching for something that matters to us?

The ability to search is our purest and most fragile freedom. But the idea driving The search can quickly be distorted these days.

To really search, we have to consider the destination and our arrival at said destination. The act of searching has to be rooted in our lizard brain, right? We've been searching for something since our very first moment as humans, from our very first moment as conscious individuals.

What happens if we decide to stop searching? Or if our current situation of comfort doesn't require the search to continue? If we stop searching, do we sacrifice this freedom? Can we put the search on autopilot and let someone or something take over our search? Consider the endless digital sprawl and scroll.

To maintain our freedom to search, to be engaged in the search, we have to interrogate the search itself.

Why do we search and what do we search for? Survival? Purpose? Safety?

We also have to celebrate the path to discovery: the anticipation of, the arrival at, and the departure from some new understanding of the world, of each other, of ourselves.

Yes we can, we must aimlessly search, kick up dust, wander around looking for nothing in particular, get lost in the search. But we must also ground that search from time to time, bring home the search, see if it fits our current house and understanding of who we are.

To search is to breathe for us humans. The search happens both consciously and unconsciously. If we forget to pay attention to why we're searching, and how we're searching, we lose the ability to harness all the inherent power and potential in our purest of freedoms.

When we remain aware of why and how we search, we stay connected to what truly makes us human, and to what makes us individuals.