A weblog devoted to spurring a conversation among those who use words to varying degrees in their daily work. Hosted by John Ettorre, a Cleveland-based writer and editor. Please email me at: john.ettorre@gmail.com. "There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real." --James Salter
The Upshot: Be Forever Mindful
I'm a Cleveland, Ohio-based writer, editor and writing coach, with more than 25 years of experience, including stints in Chicago and Washington, D.C. My work has appeared in more than 100 print and online publications, from the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor to local and regional publications. My work has been recognized by awards (including an Emmy) from four journalism groups.
7 Comments:
At first glance, I thought you said, "...be forever mindful of your ADDICTIONS - now THAT, I could comment on...
Thanks for the smile.
Some centuries after Lao Tzu Confucius talked about the "rectification of names" [the phrase in the text book I read]; it's appropriate. Knowledge is not wisdom, we have to define the two wods -- a bigger job than I'm up for tonight but one is about accumulation of information the other is about what that information means in the context of human life. Smarter people than I have tackled this, I wish I had references at hand but don't.
Knowledge is about knowing. Wisdom is about unknowing. Knowledge leads to expert's mind, wisdom leads to beginner's mind.
It's not a matter of balance, it's matter of having both at the same time. It's not that you forget everything you ever learned, to gain wisdom, it's that you don't cling to it, don't attach yourself to it, don't festishize it and make it into a goal unto itself.
Wisdom is also about having perspective, which one gains with time and experience. "Removing things" means unburdening your self with the things that no longer serve you, that don't add to wisdom. You have to learn to let go anyway, since life is all about change, and nothing is permanent. "Going with the flow" is wisdom, when "clinging to the liferaft" is not.
At least, that's my sense of it.
Not bad. Thanks, both of you.
I love this quote! (as well as the comments)
To make a technology parallel, I think it's about knowing when something is obsolete and realizing it's time to upgrade.
That's a useful parallel, Kim.
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