Self-knowledge is a lifelong journey and the deeper we are willing to go, the greater the reward. To become truly self-aware requires rigorous, persistent inquiry, true depth requires iteration and patience; few truths or problems are one-dimensional. Beware the surface solution; as H. L. Mencken famously said over a hundred years ago, “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” We humans are undoubtably complex, and complexity rarely reveals its secrets easily.
Above all, self-discovery requires courage, the willingness to be vulnerable and uncomfortable, to have challenging conversations, to be unwilling to sweep things under the rug, to acknowledge unpleasant truths and when appropriate and helpful, to speak the unspoken. If you hesitate or procrastinate to embark on this inner journey, or only scratch at the surface, remember: ‘the more you fear to enter the cave, the greater the treasure within.’
Closing Quotes:
“Tear off the mask, your face is glorious. Beneath the layers of fear and habit, the soul shines.” – Rumi, 13th-century poet
“We teach who we are. And to know who we are, we must peel away the layers of fear that keep us from our true self.” – Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach
“The process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming a person — peeling back layer after layer of defenses.” – Carl Rogers, humanistic psychologist
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832
