So what happens, when you ask your daughter to choose a word, that can be used as a prompt. It’s been another busy day and I really want to just wind down, by writing. My brain goes blank when I try to think of something and blank is not really a topic I feel compelled to write about.
My eldest screams out “peanut butter”, hmmm I’m not too keen on that one. Peanut butter is something that she just randomly says ever now and then, I guess it’s just her thing. It certainly is one of her favorite things to eat.
How about “if” she calls to me, “I’m not sure you really get what I’m trying to do”, I reply. But she does, she’s just trying to play with me, so we focus on words that leave little to the imagination, like ‘the’ and ‘at’. But I wanted something more inspiring.
So all my girls chime in and suddenly, there are so many words flying about. My youngest insists I write about hope, my eldest says abuse but then quickly changes to tea cups. Quite a jump, I must say, which I find quite intriguing.
Then my youngest suggests that I write about ‘lighting up the world’. Which is more than one word, but it certainly inspires me. She says this as she turns on some fairy lights that hang above our beds. Bathing the truck in a warm light.
Then generosity is put forward, followed by heart. Hmmm, where to start really. It fascinates me, where these words have come from, why they have chose them. But as I sit here writing them all down, along with my thoughts, they fall asleep and I am left not knowing why.
And then it hits me, “knowing”, now that’s a word that packs a punch these days. Because let’s be honest, what do we really ever know? They say, that the wisest people, are those who admit to knowing nothing. Perhaps it is the letting go, of needing to know, that makes them wise.
I like to be informed, so that I can grasp what is happening in the world around me. But sometimes that desire to know, to get to the bottom of things, can do more harm than good. Especially when we obsess over it. I’ve seen it happened, friends who get caught up in the need to proof that they are right, that they know more or are closer to the truth.
It’s healthy to be inquisitive, to keep asking questions, it’s something we need to encourage in one another. Just don’t let it take over, to the point where you disengage from your own life. Where you forget, what it means to actually live.
I guess it’s about knowing when to stop, to remember to keep smelling the roses, so you don’t lose sight of what is really important.
I get it, in this age of disinformation and with so much, finally coming to light. It can be quite easy to get swept up in the knowledge that is finally, being shared. But there are so many versions of the truth that have been woven together. That I think we really need to think about, how it is that we really know something?
For me, it is a feeling, a strong sense that I experience, where I just know if something feels right or wrong. It’s my gut instinct and I have always trusted it. But I am also aware that we can be heavily influenced by all that we consume, so I would love to know, what does it mean to know something?
