Self-Expansion Theory

A theory is a map somebody drew after walking the terrain. Self-Expansion Theory is a useful map, provided you remember it is not the terrain.

What the theory says, finally, is that people are predictable in their unpredictability. That is useful knowledge. It lets you forgive more and be surprised less.

What this concept offers is a pause — one extra beat between what happens and what you do about it. Civilisation, someone said, is measured in that beat.

An old house being emptied for sale teaches more than a philosophy seminar. Every drawer argues that things were never the point; every locked trunk disagrees.

In the end, life asks only whether we were awake while it happened. Carry it lightly. Ideas, like umbrellas, are useful only when actually opened.