As an adult, I can think of no other phrase that's harder to trot out in the company of other humans (perhaps a truly repentant "I'm sorry" but that's a whole 'nuther post).
This post is about having the humility and internal freedom to say you don't know. Here's the thing about not knowing, by not feeling the need to know everything you are signaling to yourself and the world that you wish to improve, learn, and experience!
There's so much pressure these days to be informed. There's like 8 billion of us and the collected knowledge of our doings is also at our fingertips. I mean, I know our brains a pretty freaking awesome, but come on, there's no possible way to know everything.
Plus, it's super freeing to appear clueless. I often do so in order help people feel valued and comfortable, but even beyond that, it's awesome to just not care. (I haven't gotten to this developmental benchmark of awesomeness yet.)
Not that I don't care, but think about it. If you don't have your energy wrapped up in all the things, things you can't control or have any impact on, and rather focus that energy into doing or just being, think of who you could be!
Not to mention your carcass would be a whole lot less seized by internal turmoil, because a lot of the things we fret over when we are in the know rarely come to pass.
There's so much angst, ill-will, posturing, and all out grotesque behavior being exhibited around us 24/7 due to people feeling like they have to flex about being in the know. Do you want to spend any of your precious, finite time in that zero-sum sphere.
That's not to say I don't like knowing.
I love to learn, to see what's going on in the world, to experience this wonderful, beautiful simulation. Is my experience going to be any less wonderful if I haven't watched every single episode of the latest show, know all the details of the latest fight on Twitter, or know the color of some insolent warlord's treasured sportscar?
I know it's purely anecdotal, but my overall well-being and demeanor is much more satisfactory if I place limits on my media consumption. Being thought of as well-informed only serves the self-edifying parts of my psyche and let's be honest, there's plenty of apps available for one to tool around on if that was my focus.
It's much more freeing to be thought of an unknowing, then you can get to the business of living without that distraction threatening to derail you from the important work of living.
Because each moment we are living in could be our last, getting distracted by all the things instead of doing the work that only you can do seems the opposite of freedom. I don't think I want to be enslaved by attention to that which is fleeting, not at all necessary, and and ultimately beyond my control.
It's all good though, because this is just my thoughts about such things, in truth, I don't know.
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's very knowledgeable in a process-driven way iPhone, the header and footer images were made in Canva.
