Great story. I’m learning to embrace uncertainty in almost all of its forms as I get older and hopefully a bit wiser. Which doesn’t mean I won’t be filled with self-righteous feelings of certainty almost every day- the hope is I can recognize them as feelings and be mindful of them.
Thank you, Eric. I really appreciate this reflection. That distinction you draw between feeling certain and being certain is such a powerful one. I’m learning (slowly!) that the goal isn’t to eliminate certainty, but to hold it with a bit more awareness and a whole lot more humility. To notice when it creeps in wearing the mask of truth. If we can catch that moment, even just occasionally, I think that’s a kind of wisdom too.
I like the way you phrase it - “creeps in wearing the mask of truth” It’s hard sometimes to see that the uncertainty IS the truth, it’s just so hard to rest in it.
Pema Chödrön’s book, Comfortable with Uncertainty, has been a comfort for me in that realm. William Bridges’s book, Transitions, as well to make sense of it all.
My legs hurt when I read this story! Sometimes, a negative experience can protect you from potentially worse experiences in the future. When my 18-year-old daughter set off on her gap year on the other side of the world, she was very naive. Soon after arriving in this foreign country, she went on a long bus journey. At the end of the journey she realised that the person sitting behind her had cut a hole in her pocket and stolen her camera and purse. In a way, I was fine about this because she instantly became more streetwise and more able to look after herself.
Oh Nicola, I felt that story in my chest. What a mix of heartbreak and unexpected grace. I can only imagine how helpless and far away that must have felt. Both for her, and for you as her mother. And yet, you’re right: sometimes it’s the sting of those early scrapes that sharpens our senses for the long road ahead. I’m so sorry she lost her purse and camera. Those little fragments of memory we carry with us. But what a bittersweet and beautiful turning point. Sometimes wisdom arrives disguised as loss. Thank you for sharing this.
“somtimes it’s the sting of those early scrapes that sharpens our senses” What a way with words! And ideas “Sometimes wisdom arrives disguised as loss.” Yes!
Great story. I’m learning to embrace uncertainty in almost all of its forms as I get older and hopefully a bit wiser. Which doesn’t mean I won’t be filled with self-righteous feelings of certainty almost every day- the hope is I can recognize them as feelings and be mindful of them.
Thank you, Eric. I really appreciate this reflection. That distinction you draw between feeling certain and being certain is such a powerful one. I’m learning (slowly!) that the goal isn’t to eliminate certainty, but to hold it with a bit more awareness and a whole lot more humility. To notice when it creeps in wearing the mask of truth. If we can catch that moment, even just occasionally, I think that’s a kind of wisdom too.
I like the way you phrase it - “creeps in wearing the mask of truth” It’s hard sometimes to see that the uncertainty IS the truth, it’s just so hard to rest in it.
I understand that one. All too well.
Pema Chödrön’s book, Comfortable with Uncertainty, has been a comfort for me in that realm. William Bridges’s book, Transitions, as well to make sense of it all.
Thanks for the recommendations! Will have to check those books out.
My legs hurt when I read this story! Sometimes, a negative experience can protect you from potentially worse experiences in the future. When my 18-year-old daughter set off on her gap year on the other side of the world, she was very naive. Soon after arriving in this foreign country, she went on a long bus journey. At the end of the journey she realised that the person sitting behind her had cut a hole in her pocket and stolen her camera and purse. In a way, I was fine about this because she instantly became more streetwise and more able to look after herself.
Oh Nicola, I felt that story in my chest. What a mix of heartbreak and unexpected grace. I can only imagine how helpless and far away that must have felt. Both for her, and for you as her mother. And yet, you’re right: sometimes it’s the sting of those early scrapes that sharpens our senses for the long road ahead. I’m so sorry she lost her purse and camera. Those little fragments of memory we carry with us. But what a bittersweet and beautiful turning point. Sometimes wisdom arrives disguised as loss. Thank you for sharing this.
“somtimes it’s the sting of those early scrapes that sharpens our senses” What a way with words! And ideas “Sometimes wisdom arrives disguised as loss.” Yes!
Good one Glenn!
LOL… well not really. Yet I remember…
Good for all to be educated to the seasonal variations of poison oak! And to the seasonal shifts of everything!
Btw— great, S in beautiful photo.
I love that this piece is a seasonal shift and backhand way of acknowledging the value of uncertainty and thereby curiosity.
Yet doesn’t calm certainly have its place too? It’s that foolish arrogance that tricks us up, leaving us precariously hanging.
It’s my question for the moment. I don’t know for sure, for certain. Resting in the question.