I have always liked the way “ignorance is bliss” rolls off the tongue.
And it is...exactly that.
Ignorance is bliss, because with knowledge comes responsibility.
As we know better, we are bound to the contract of doing better.
So “ignorance” in the non-offensive use of the word- means a lack of knowledge or information.
Simple and direct:
You don’t know what you don’t know.
Why would it be bliss...?
Maybe because knowing stuff means being bound to that expectation of knowledge.
I can’t plead innocence if I know.
Working in care formed a whole new image of what “not knowing” meant.
I recall situations of 'not knowing' that anyone could possibly “not know” certain things.
Yet, also finding situations unfold before me where I simply didn’t know.
It was humbling, to realize that the overlap of “not knowing” in service, means making mistakes with people’s lives.
Once in a management role,
Being responsible for other people’s ignorance was a learning curve so steep it felt like standing at the base of a mountain trail, looking up.
I could not imagine being at the top- at all.
It is hard to describe in any other way than mountain climbing-
So if the imagery is lost to you, I apologize.
But being responsible for situations that you could never imagine doing...is a hard, hard peak to climb.
Each step- not only finding your own footing, but predicting the steps of others behind you and helping them up without falling.
And once you reach the top, and look down on the valley below-
Imagining being at the bottom is almost as impossible as how it looked from the bottom imagining the top.
I think there is a kind of confidence a teacher or leader needs- that comes without bravado.
They have to know for a fact that they are on solid ground, before leaning over to help another up.
My view of life- in general- is crop circles.
From ground-level, it is simply a maze of bent and straight grass or crop.
You cannot see anything but shorn and waving- maybe knowing it is a pattern, but unable to recognize it.
Yet- the higher you get above it-
The more of the intricate and beautiful pattern is revealed to you.
Looking down on a field- from high above...
Crop Circles are fantastic.
I have one tattooed on my back-
The eternal metaphor of being a confused blade of grass-
Whether standing or bent over..
Yet a part of a magnificent pattern impossible to see from the level of the field.
A blade of grass would never know why it was selected as a standing or mown down blade.
It’s perspective of “why”- so limited.
Even the farmer- moaning about his crops- would not be able to see the “why”.
Only think of his loss.
He might wave his fist at the unknown vandal, ignorant to the grander design.
Ignorance is bliss.
The freedom in doing whatever it is I am doing without the pressure of knowing whether I should or should not.
Yet responsibility brings with it the expectation of knowledge.
If I am to lead anyone to the centre of a crop circle, I must know the path to get there.
If I am mountain climbing-
Am I the one helping or being helped?
After years of unravelling this journey-
My life is in the middle.
Not confident enough to be the teacher or leader-
But rather in the middle of the chain.
I need someone to follow,
But I’m strong enough to help those behind.
I like to have someone to tell me which steps to take-
Curious, open to listening.
But I also need to serve others.
I prefer to give a hand up, listen to stories and relay that up the chain-
The place I find myself currently, is going from the "leader" to the very last on the chain.
The one being lead- because I got lost somewhere on that mountain and needed to be found.
I love my ignorance, for it gives room for learning and listening, growing and developing.
It also leaves me in current limbo, those moments when I did not know what I could not know.
Also my responsibility to know better-
And as I blog further into uncharted territories-
I hope you will join me in unravelling those unknowns.
Take good care.