Let's do something a little different today.

Last week we talked about the power of asking: why the ask is harder than it looks, and why it matters more than most of us admit.

This week I want to dig deeper. Before you can ask, you have to recognize that something exists worth asking about. You have to see the ceiling above you for what it is: not the sky, but a ceiling.

That is what today is about. Recognizing your limitations. Seeking out the people and examples who can break your frame. And understanding that the best creative lives are built by people who kept asking one question: can I come with you?

I wrote a fable about it. Read all the way to the bottom.

(P.S. Be sure to turn on images! Or view this online.)

The Mole Who Wanted to See the Sky

A Fable

A mole lived underground. Every morning he woke with one dream: to see the sky. He would look up at the ceiling of his tunnel and think, one day I will see the sky.

His neighbors shook their heads. "There is no sky," they said. "There is only dirt. The sky is brown. Be grateful for what you can reach."

Then one day a rabbit traveler passed through the mole community. "The sky is not brown," the rabbit said. "The sky is green. I have seen it myself."

The mole felt his heart pound. He gathered his courage and asked, "Can I come with you?"

So he went.

When the mole first emerged from the earth, the light was blinding. For days he could not look up. But slowly, his eyes adjusted, and when he finally raised his head, the sky above him was filled with green: the green of a vast canopy of trees stretching in every direction.

"I have seen the sky," the mole said. He stayed with his new community and was content.

Then a squirrel traveler came through. "I have seen the sky," the squirrel said. "The sky is blue. There is sky beyond the trees."

The mole did not hesitate. "Can I come with you?"

So he went. He climbed to the tops of the tallest trees and strained his eyes against the brightness. Little by little, his eyes adjusted. He looked up, and the sky was blue.

"I have seen the sky," the mole said. He stayed at the tops of the trees with his new community and was content.

Then one day an eagle came through. The mole listened as the eagle told of something beyond the sky.

"I used to think the sky was brown," the mole said. "Then I learned it was green. Now I know it is blue."

"The sky is black," the eagle said. "I can show you, if you are willing to fly with me."

The mole looked up at the vast blue above him. He said nothing. The eagle spread its wings and flew away.

For months, the mole thought about what the eagle had said. He made himself a promise: if the eagle ever returned, he would go.

Years passed. The mole waited, looking up.

One day the eagle returned.

"The sky is black," the eagle said. "I can show you, if you are willing."

"I will go," the mole said.

They flew higher and higher. The earth below grew small. The blue above grew deeper. The deeper they climbed, the darker the blue became, until at the very top of the sky it turned so deep it was nearly black.

From that height, the mole could see everything: his tunnel in the earth, the canopy of trees, the curve of the world itself.

And there, at the top of the sky, the mole sprouted wings.

Moral: Seek the one whose sky makes yours look like dirt.

Every musician has a version of brown sky.

It is the standard you grew up inside. The teachers who defined excellence for you. The scene that set the ceiling. The peers who told you, without meaning to, what was possible and what was not. None of them were lying, and it’s not their fault.

That was just the sky they knew.

The mole's neighbors were not wrong. Dirt was real. Brown was real. They had simply never left.

Ask yourself: who in your life has shown you a sky you had never seen before? A teacher who played at a level that embarrassed your ambition. A musician whose work made yours feel small in the best possible way. A mentor who treated your ceiling like a floor.

If you can name that person, you already know what frame-breaking feels like. The question now is whether you are still seeking it, or whether you have settled into the green canopy and called it blue.

If you can’t think of anyone that fits that description, take heart. There has never been been more access to people who will break your frame.

Here is your challenge: find one musician, creator, or thinker who operates at a level that unsettles you. Not someone slightly better, but someone whose work makes your current frame feel like a dirt tunnel. Study them. Follow them. And if you ever get close enough, ask the question.

Can I come with you?

That question is harder than it sounds. Most musicians never ask it. If you want to know how to actually do it, including who to reach out to, what to say, and how to write the message that gets read instead of deleted, I wrote a guide for exactly that.

The mole asked, and everything changed.

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