We often talk about the ‘comfort zone’ as that physical or emotional space where we feel safe, but we rarely stop to think about what happens when that zone not only disappears, but is torn down by a terrible injustice. Our friends at Silver Bloggers invite us this week to reflect on those moments when we were out of our comfort zone and how that turned into something positive. My story is not one of an uncomfortable journey or a change of job; it is the story of how eleven years in the shadows of Venezuela’s prisons forced me to be reborn.

How the abyss became my law school

My comfort zone vanished one ordinary day, following an anonymous call from a woman’s voice. Without any evidence, I was accused of a crime I did not commit. In the blink of an eye, I went from being an ordinary citizen (a teacher) to a number in file 9942. Three years after my arrest, whilst reading through my own case file, I discovered to my horror a confession signed with my name and bearing my fingerprints – something that never happened (there is an explanation for this, but I have already recounted it in other posts on my blog). Faced with the apathy of lawyers who had given up hope, I realised that if I wanted to get my life back, I had to become my own saviour.

In this case, stepping outside one’s comfort zone means surviving a system designed to crush you. I decided I would not be a silent victim. For two years, I immersed myself in Venezuelan laws and regulations. What began as a defence mechanism became a vocation born of necessity. I became a ‘lawyer by necessity’. Such was my mastery of the law that, whilst still a prisoner, I began drafting defences for fellow inmates who regained their freedom even before I did.

That enforced stay led me to work in the Transfers, Education, Archives and, finally, the Legal Departments. There, my mind sought order amidst the chaos, as I created a multifunctional database using FileMaker to manage prison information. It was such a success that it became widespread in the country’s prisons, and the very court hearing my case adopted the software.

My greatest victory was not merely technological. I managed to get my appeal heard by the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, something for which my public defender at the time reproached me, saying, ‘You’ve gone over my head…’. First, I secured a change in my status from ‘Penitentiary’ to ‘Prison’, thereby regaining my civil rights. Six months later, in 2006, I walked through the gates to full freedom, with a clean record, head held high, though with those scars on my soul that time cannot erase, but which I now recognise as a badge of honour.

Being outside my comfort zone taught me that knowledge is the only key that no bars can lock away. I left there not only as a free man, but as a man who had discovered a fighting spirit I would never have known in the comfort of a life without upsets.

Hi! Everybody (friends), if you've made it this far, THANK YOU! You are welcome to participate; the link with all the information is below. But I also hope to read your comments in the reply box. Thank you for joining us in these waters of HIVE.