Celebrating the “I don’t know”

“Awe is all around us. We just need to know where to look.” — Dacher Keltner

Quick question. Did you wake up this morning, like a three-year-old, super excited to see what the day might bring?

Or did you open your eyes and make the conclusion that “well, today is likely to be an awful lot like yesterday”?

I think it was Dr. J (or maybe one of his disciples) that said something to the effect of we humans see “through a glass darkly.”

Because we are so convinced we understand life, so darn sure we know how things are, we see through a filter. It’s virtually impossible for us to see life clearly.

Maybe it’s just here in Kansas City Chiefs country, but our headlines are filled with “news” about Taylor Swift.

My algorithm (if you want to know what you’re interested in, just notice what pops up on your device) is filled with stories about the brilliant star’s wardrobe, who she partied with, analysis of her relationship with Travis Kelce.

I chuckle because all those news reports have NO IDEA what’s really going on. None. Zilch. Yet, I hear people talking (Taylor did this or Taylor did that) as if they have some kind of insight.

That’s pretty much what the ego does, feeds us stories straight from our algorithms, straight from thoughts we’ve been interested in before. And then we go on to repeat them, believe them, invest in them. Pretty soon we think we’re experts in something that is pure speculation.

Most everything we believe about the world is pure speculation, fed to us by our egos to limit what we believe is and isn’t possible. Or as Taylor might say, “weaving little webs of opacity.”

What happened yesterday is of NO RELEVANCE to today. What you could or couldn’t do last week is of NO RELEVANCE to right now.

Which is why I celebrate a deep state of not knowing, not figuring things out, not having to be what I thought I was yesterday.

Not knowing leaves room for bright, shiny “sacred new beginnings.”

#222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World)