Written, Said, Or Sung. So What?

Are things true/correct only because they’re out there?

Do you know this feeling when you’ve just come across some theory/ thought/ conclusion/ idea, etc. and you thought it completely undermined the merit of your ‘original’ theory/ thought/ conclusion/ idea?

We tend to assume that what we’ve come across in a book, talk, interview, blog post, etc. is correct/ true.

We assume that since this was published or spoken it has to be correct.

It doesn’t have to be.

What if you’d have never read it?

What if this somebody would have never wrote/ said that?

What if you’d have never found out?

Would you still have abandoned your theory/ idea/ piece/ book?

Reading helps us understand the world and come up with our own ideas. It makes the process of connecting the dots easier. Even if we claim that our ideas/ thoughts/ theories are original there is always something, even if it’s this little, seemingly inconsequential, crumb that helped us draw our conclusions.

So by all means read/ listen/ watch. Especially read — a lot.

But after you have read/ listened/ watched say to yourself

What if I were to ignore it? What would be different?

What if all I’ve just read or heard is essentially wrong?

What if my abandoned work/ article/ book could still have helped change someone’s life? What if it would have changed my life?

What if my seemingly stupid (in light of this new finding) thought/ idea/ concept/ understanding/ conclusion would have sparked another great idea/ thought in someone else or in myself?

Brené Brown beautifully put it when she said that we need to believe in what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. And even if it’s so scary to show up, even if it feels dangerous to be seen, even if it is terrifying, it is not as scary, dangerous and terrifying as getting to the end of our lives and thinking What if I would have shown up? What would have been different?