Why Self-Knowledge Eludes Us?
“Much of what destroys our lives can be attributed to emotions that our conscious selves haven’t found a way to understand or to address in time.” (The School of Life: An Emotional Education)
We may spend a lifetime trying to understand our emotions, desires, ambitions, and fears, yet take the last breath in a state of self-ignorance.
Our freedom is tied to meeting society’s needs. We lack real freedom — the right to know ourselves.
The furious pace of life allows little time for introspection. There’re norms to follow, milestones to reach, desires to satisfy, and obligations to meet, no matter if they collide with our true impulses and inner cravings.
Self-understanding demands leisure and productive idleness, a vantage point to pause and reflect, which society either denies or invalidates.
Understanding the source of our emotions, our toughest task, will set us free.
