“It is important to establish and maintain clear boundaries.” Is there anyone of a certain age who has not received this directive at one point or another in their lives?

On the most obvious level it is a warning to safeguard the sanctity of the self from damaging intrusions from careless or aggressive others. However, when we take the time to contemplate this advice in light of key cultural traditions—the most enduring of which always draw our eyes to the key role that paradox plays in the pursuit of human wisdom—we can see that it is much more than this.

To establish a boundary, as Robert Frost famously reminded us, is both an act of separation and an act of coming together, for it is only from a place of clearly drawn differentiation that we can recognize the beauty and miraculousness of another human being, and begin imagining how—if we are so inclined—we might begin the grand and mysterious process of trying to truly understand his or her unique feelings and thoughts.