Did you think you misread that title? Nope, I am in fact suggesting that you know enough. There’s nothing else you need to know. So if your new year’s resolution includes anything starting with the phrases “learn, read, get certified in” or anything else that suggests you are going to stuff your brain, just chuck it.
My personal challenge for 2019 is to go a whole year without reading a book. Many people have resolutions that include reading more, my resolution is to read less. I read between 40-50 books per year. It’s too much. There’s nothing else to know. In his book (yes I see the irony here) Radical Wholeness, Philip Shepherd makes a distinction between “objective knowledge” and “self-knowledge”. Where objective knowledge is facts and rules in your head and self-knowledge is a deeper knowledge of the present felt in your body. I’m giving up objective knowledge to make room for self-knowledge.
My intention is to consume less and create more. Though reading is highly valued by our society, and enjoyable to me personally, it’s a very passive activity. I just sit there and let the information feed into my head. Could I create something instead? Perhaps I could write something or develop an idea. I could listen deeply to the knowledge around me and in parts of my body other than my head.
Brain Twist: Try to reduce your information consumption for a week or even a day. Can you create something in place of consuming? Let us know how it turns out!
