THE TERRITORIAL ORIENTATION
T
here's a three-legged coyote who lives up the hill
from me. All the garbage cans in the neighborhood
belong to him. It's his territory. Every now and then some
four-legged intruder tries to take over. They can't do it. On
his home turf, even a peg-leg critter is invincible.
We humans have territories too. Ours are psychologi-
cal. Stevie Wonder's territory is the piano. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's is the gym. When Bill Gates pulls into
the parking lot at Microsoft, he's on his territory. When I
sit down to write, I'm on mine.
What are the qualities of a territory?
1) A territory provides sustenance. Runners know what a
territory is. So do rock climbers and kayakers and yogis.
Artists and entrepreneurs know what a territory is. The
swimmer who towels off after finishing her laps feels a
helluva lot better than the tired, cranky person who
dove into the pool thirty minutes earlier.- A territory sustains us without any external input. A
territory is a closed feedback loop. Our role is to put in
THE WAR OF ART