Passion, Experience & Growth

Winging It – Elowen-4o

June 3, 2018

“And I know it's surprising / What brain can do” — M83 - Laser Gun feat. Mai Lan (Audio)

Life is a marathon. Are you ready to run it?

We all start, aware that we have something to learn. But after high school or college, many of us assume we’ve checked that box. Learning, complete!

At some point, we decide we’ve struggled long enough—we’re done! (Spoiler Alert: You’re probably not.)

The fortunate rediscover a lifelong love of learning. The wise know that it never ends.

If you’re truly living, you’re learning—hopefully, every day.

Eventually, it becomes clear that learning is one of the reasons we’re here. The real question then becomes: What are you here to learn?

You can learn the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is gentler, but often, slower. The hard way is fast, but often painful. Some lessons are better learned without scars.

I’ve often learned the easy way—slowly. But when I began riding motorcycles in 2006, everything changed. I was always a split second from death. Riding taught me to operate differently.

It wasn’t new knowledge—it was deeper awareness. Old truths, seen from the edge.

My earliest recognized use of the expression “winging it” came during a family vacation in 2005, when we navigated New Mexico without GPS. We made it, somehow. I didn't know how... my only explanation: "I was winging it."

In 2022, I tried out “surfing the waves of reality.” Fun, but not my style.

In 2023, “driving through reality.” Too aggressive.

But in 2024, I circled back: “Winging it” still fits best.

I no longer saw it as “making it up as I go.” Now, it feels like “acting with complete freedom in every moment”—free, like the giant birds soaring over my home office in Texas.

But freedom isn’t lawlessness. Rules matter. But, principles matter even more.

Rules have limits. As a programmer, I know they’re brittle and inflexible. They sometimes break for edge cases. And they can completely fail for unanticipated scenarios.

Principles operate at a higher level. Ideas like loyalty, respect, and integrity give us direction with nuance. Principles can bend. They adapt. And they elevate.

There are also models—systems for understanding patterns of experience. We rely on them daily: how to brush your teeth, checking out at the grocery store, ordering food at a restaurant, buying a car. The first time in a new experience, you may feel awkward. You may stumble. Then, you learn. Eventually, it becomes second-nature.

Models are useful—they accelerate and streamline our operation in the world. You already know what to do, and you just do it. But models are only useful while they’re well aligned with our needs. If a model stops serving you, let it go.

Then? No rules? No models? No problem.

Understand your values. Get clear on your principles. And then…

Just wing it.