I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to understand what makes us who we are—why we repeat certain patterns, why some experiences change us, and what happens when we become curious enough to actually look at ourselves.
There was a point in my life when the questions stopped being philosophical. I had a near-death experience. For me, it changed the nature of the questions I was asking. What is really out there?
Who am I in the midst of all of this? And if my life is connected to something larger than myself, what role do I play within the greater whole? I didn’t suddenly come away with all the answers.
If anything, I came away with better questions.
Those questions began a much deeper exploration of my life. I started looking into spirituality, consciousness, ancient teachings, Human Design, the Gene Keys, and different ways human beings have tried to understand who we are and why we're here.
But life itself kept becoming the greatest teacher. Fatherhood taught me. Relationships taught me. Loss taught me. Work taught me.
My mistakes taught me. The moments when I thought I knew exactly where I was going—and discovered that I didn’t—taught me too. Over time, I stopped looking for a single system that could explain everything.
I started looking for maps. Human Design became one map. The Gene Keys became another. Spiritual traditions, psychology, nature, relationships, and my own lived experience offered others. I don't see these things as identities that we need to wear.
They are tools that can aid us in our understanding and knowledge.
They can give us language for something we’ve felt but couldn't name. They can reveal a pattern we couldn't see. They can give us a different question to carry into our lives.
But eventually, we have to test the map against the terrain. That became my practice: Notice. Question. Experiment. Experience.
Take an idea into my actual life and see what happens. Does it help me understand myself more clearly? Does it help me meet another person with more understanding? Does it create more awareness, compassion, freedom, or choice? And if it doesn't—am I willing to question it? That spirit of exploration eventually became Adventures with Perry.
This isn't a place where I stand at the end of the trail and tell you where to go. I'm still walking it. I'm still questioning. I'm still experimenting. I'm still discovering who I am in the midst of this strange and beautiful experience of being human. And maybe that's the adventure. The map can point. Life teaches us how to walk.
I used to think understanding meant finding the answer. Now I think understanding often begins when we’re willing to stay with the question.