Restrictions Are Opportunities

A fluid (or gas) confined in a container will exert equal pressure against all sides of the container. Pressure, however is not constant; it depends on the fluid’s temperature and kinetic energy. A fluid with higher temperature/energy will press on the container more than a fluid with a lower temperature/energy.

It will stay confined until the container is breached; then it will spew forth energetically or weakly depending on the pressure.

This is how your shower works, or the hose that you use to water your plants with. The water exerts pressure on the pipes or the hose until you turn the tap on; then, having just one outlet available, the water rushes through.

The idea is to direct the escape of the fluid so it points to where you want it to be useful. A shower pipe with a leak is less useful than one where all the water escapes through the nozzle. Similarly, a flexible hose is much more useful than a rigid pipe because you have more degrees of freedom to control the direction of the stream.

This idea doesn’t just apply to fluids. For example, classic military strategy is to surround the enemy and leave them with only a way out. That way, they can control the enemy’s behavior and have foreknowledge of their actions.

Look at restrictions not as an enclosure, but as the ability to direct the eventual release. This way, restrictions become an affirmation that you can shape the environment around you not by removing the constraint, but by focusing energy.