I am amazed to what lengths I go to maintain a self-image that "I know!" when in fact I KNOW I have no clue!
I can just see the eyes of females rolling back into their heads at my past attempts at trying to explain something!
On Sunday, I attended a concert with Elizabeth at Kirstenbosch Gardens, a beautiful outdoor venue in Cape Town. As we were sitting on our picnic blanket waiting for some friends and for the concert to start, I was unconsciously puffing on my electronic cigarette. A female marshal appeared and asked me to please stop smoking. I politely said that I would and turned back to continue the conversation with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth then asked why it is that I can’t smoke my electronic cigarette in the concert area. I was stumped. I had no answer.
As I stammered and stuttered out what was likely to be a long explanation, which went something like: “um… because they have bla bla…”
Elizabeth asked “Who is they?”.
Again I had no idea but jokingly managed to say, “They, you know… Them!”
I was amazed to what lengths I go to maintain a self-image that “I know” – -when in fact I KNOW I have no clue! LOL!
I can just see the eyes of females rolling back into their heads at my past attempts at trying to explain something!
What I found in working with this further is that my sense of self worth is tied up in what I think I know and hence the difficulty in simply saying, “I don’t know”.
From a Toltec perspective, the true meaning of the myth
Men must be educated
Is
Men must have knowledge
Knowledge is defined as having practical experience on the physical plane.
I have now also connected with my urge to explore while working with this myth, and I have found myself more consciously differentiating between what I do know and what I do not know.
Doing this has helped me be more present. Also, having a sense for what I do not know also as a starting point and lends a mood of fun and adventure to the exploration.
- I Don’t Know! - 3rd April 2016
- “We Can’t Afford It!” Really? - 8th February 2016
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