Mario Nunez sent me photos of a box he recently completed, a bit larger than earlier boxes, pushing the limits of his stationary belt sander and challenging his confidence during the work.

Pushing the limits of one's confidence and riding on the edge is where growth happens, and we are helped by the chemicals our bodies produce that push us to engage in some way at the edge of our potential.

I've been reading a book about sailing, The Godforsaken Sea, by Derek Lundy. It is about a race around the world in the high latitudes, Arctic icy waters and in the worst sea and weather conditions even an experienced sailor could possibly imagine. In the Vendée Globe, solo 60 foot racers, built light for speed, and carrying as much sail as they can handle without coming apart, sail from France, around Antarctica and back in just over 100 days (if they make it back at all). Derek Lundy raises the question, if you've been there, why would you go back? and which he answers by observing the chemistry of the body.

There's an element of compulsion here, a whiff of addiction. Drugs are involved: the seductive high of adrenaline, for example. It's a powerful substance. The athlete, the daredevil, the extreme-sport practitioner sometimes the soldier, all return to the action in part to recapture the physical sensations produced by the body's own chemistry when it is in danger. There's also dopamine, the chemical produced in the brain, when people have good experiences. It's what makes us feel pleasure and we try to repeat the actions that trigger its secretion.

Reader Joe Barry could tell a bit about this. He and his wife Dee have made over 300 parachute jumps each. Joe is a licensed rigger and learned to sew meticulously as an adult in order to receive certification. Sewing our tiny sails isn't the same as sewing a parachute in which your stitches may mean life or death, but the sense of accomplishment the students feel at Clear Spring is real none the less. And it is interesting to note that the human body once it is introduced to its creative potential is chemically driven to advance our accomplishments and push us to risk growth. Way to go Mario. Ride that gentle high.