There are those days when one just naturally falls into introspection, delving deep into ones psyche to understand the road traveled and direction headed. Making peace with those lost opportunities and missteps. I guess you could call it a brain audit so you can better see the big picture. (NB: not to be confused with Scientology's 'auditing' process... whatever that is.)
When I have these days I think a lot about the word 'wisdom'. They say with age comes wisdom, but I swear I have met elderly people who are decidedly unwise. Yet there is the undisputed fact that experience endows us with a certain wisdom by default. Experience begets knowledge which begets growth which begets wisdom. The best part of it is that it's ongoing. We are constantly in a state of experience, even if it's been done before as it's never done the same way twice. But wisdom is more than just experience. Wisdom comes from the lesson one learns through the experience. It comes from understanding the 'moral of the story' and holding on to it, locking it deep in one's memory bank. And wisdom comes from the sharing of it, hearing it passed down from generations past and present. Still, our western culture seems to put little value on it, removing elders from the family circle and shutting them away with their own kind. I do believe we are the only culture that does not revere our elderly, does not place them in a position of honor and respect. And we are the ones that lose by squandering all that collective wisdom.
I love to read. I am a firm believer in history and the study of it. It gives us pre-packaged wisdom so if we heed it, we won't waste our time on lessons previously learned. It frees us up to create anew, as there is much to absorb in this chaotic world and we have yet to make sense of it. We have a responsibility to leave this place better than how we inherited it, but I fear it's too late.
We need wisdom now more than ever. Or we will surely self destruct.
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