Begin
Yesterday I wondered about What it means to be wise? I’m still wondering. . . . I’ve been wondering about that most of my life.
“I came to this city a brave and broken girl,
determined to search the world
for some kind of wisdom. . . .” –Christine Kane
Christine searched the world. So did I.
Pamir quoted that the “Tao that can be spoken of is not the Tao.” Wisdom lives deeper than words. I try the idea on for size. Every cell of me agrees.
Aruni said, “Wisdom is a never ending journey fraught with joys, pains, ups and downs because without those experiences they cannot connect and share with others.” How loudly this resonates. When folks have called me wise, it has been when our spirits have met around an experience — our minds merely translated for us.
So it seems, when people use the word wisdom, it has had little to do with intelligence and everything to do with humanity.
Wise folks I know are intelligent hearts. They are not part-time wise. They never forget the people involved when they look at the bottom line. I feel wide open trust when I think about them. It’s a soft smile to recall their faces.
I searched for another words to describe what I meant — acumen, astuteness, balance, brains*, caution, circumspection, clear thinking, common sense, comprehension, discernment, discrimination, enlightenment, erudition, experience, foresight, good judgment, gumption*, horse sense*, information, intelligence, judgment, judiciousness, knowledge, learning, pansophy, penetration, perspicacity, poise, practicality, prudence, reason, sagacity, sageness, sanity, sapience, savoir faire, savvy*, shrewdness, solidity, sophistication, stability, understanding –Thesaurus. com
Not a one is worthy of the people I call wise.
Maybe wisdom defined is unconditional love and understanding.
Imagine if we aspired to be wisdom defined.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
