I Don’t Know Everything I Know.

I know a lot, but I don’t know everything I know.My inner hun

I frequently listen to documentaries, rather than watch because my mind turns words into pictures so sometimes, I get distracted watching. Can I recall what I listened to? Yes. Many times, in the middle of a conversation, the right information I need that was in a documentary I watched comes to mind including the channel I watched it on.

I used to think it was odd until I remembered my father’s wisdom. I was either at the end of primary school or the beginning of high school when he said, “Education is what is left when all else is forgotten.” Meaning that our minds store what they deem important and will recall and use it at the appropriate time.

This has driven me to pursue knowledge my way. I remember him pushing me to do a Master’s when I was just out of campus but his admonition to pursue things of value made me decline the offer because the master's available was in a field I couldn’t place in my life’s path. He was a University Don with a PhD and my mother was working towards her PhD at the time yet here was his child choosing an alternative. Why? I hadn’t even used or tested half the information in my mind so how would I add more? Yup, I am that radical child. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against Postgraduate education. Many of my friends and associates who went that way had a compelling reason for doing so. I am against pursuing it for the sake of it.

My inner hunger to understand is a compelling driver. I pursued information by reading, listening, taking courses, asking for sources and in-depth conversations. I learnt to ask ‘Why’ until I got to the real reason behind my intentions and those of others. I ask the harder questions and bring forth alternative perspectives. A recent conversation on climate change and action fascinated me because I kept remembering examples of places across the world grappling with climate change and its impacts.

What am I saying?

The mind absorbs the information we consume, and it gets catalogued for later use and recall on demand. Therefore, the quality of our thoughts and words is grounded on the quality of the information we feed our minds. Now, some days I am tired and just scroll on my phone for some time, however, I am working to change that habit. I am conscious that what I feed my mind matters and my alternative to reels and scrolling is numbers games and painting apps because it is a different kind of focus.

Whatever you do, guard what you consume as it will rise to the surface one day. Earlier I said, “I don’t know everything I know,” because my mind is constantly synthesising the information I absorb and reproduces it differently. Our minds can take the same block of knowledge and connect it to more things than we can think of, so let’s be vigilant about what we consume.

#learning #knowledge #personalgrowth #afrikanstoryteller