Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you.

I don’t know, I’m not sure. I really need to learn more about this, before I decide. Perhaps, if I listen with an open mind, I might learn something from an intelligent person who has disparate life experiences to my own, and I might grow and potentially change my opinion or my perspective, as a result.

Why is this blatant variable so obviously missing in this moment in United States history?

So many people feel threatened by admitting that they do not have all the answers. If you look at that fear through a filter of logistics, we do not know any person who knows everything, or even close to that, so why is this a problem?

Perhaps people are threatened by an admission of being less than perfect. Perhaps there is a deep-seated fear that we are incomplete if we are not equipped with everything that others expect of us, at a moment’s notice? Are they all listening to the old adage: Better to keep your mouth closed and thought a fool, than to open it and confirm the fact?

All of the great sages throughout history have penned an aphorism to the effect of: the more you know, the more you discover how much there is you still need to learn.

As with any rabbit hole of knowledge, the deeper you venture, the deeper you discover how much there is to see.

I discovered the writings of Eckhart Tolle in my 20s and I can say with certainty that his teachings have been one of the most important influences on helping me to shape whom I am becoming. The more that I read, the more I find Buddha and other brilliant minds as his influencers.

My exposure to his teaching has clearly impacted my existence by further enabling my perspective that it is far wiser to admit to someone that you do not know the subject matter that is being discussed and that perhaps they can enlighten you.

I have discovered that this option has three distinct benefits, starting with the fact that the person with whom you are speaking does not view you as ignorant for an admission of not knowing and needing to learn. Further, most people feel (and sometimes rightly so) that they know a lot about a specific topic that you are speaking about and they are more than desirous of expressing their knowledge. And most importantly, in the admission of your own ignorance on a topic, you open yourself to learning from everyone. You can always decide after the lesson if the information was worth retaining or discarding.

Over time, The Illusion Factory has cycled through thousands of employees. In almost all circumstances, I have consistently remained one of the most ignorant people in the company by design. The joy of being very comfortable with whom you are enables you to surround yourself with genius and in the process, arm yourself with outstanding advice and uniquely disparate perspectives so that you are further able to make wise decisions.

If you are willing to subordinate your ego in favor of a humility that is genuinely desirous of learning, you will discover the world is almost always willing to teach you lessons that you are a most ready and desirous of learning.

The sun is obscured by the clouds today, so I am taking my walk through the mist. In the immortal words of Robert Plant:

So I’ve decided what I’m gonna do now

So I’m packing my bags for the Misty Mountains

Where the spirits go now

Over the hills where the spirits fly, oh, “I really don’t know.”

(And that, my literary friends, is how you do a morning musing that ties Eckhart Tolle to Led Zeppelin. Have an amazing Thursday.😊

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