From One Place to Another
Everyone say, "Thank You" Kellen
Kellen: To all the Wednesday Balmers out there,
I am writing this intro to share that I will no longer be a primary contributor to Wednesday Balms and instead I will contribute a more behind the scenes, consultation type role.
I have found myself entrenched in my psychoanalytic training which has been more demanding than I anticipated. Confronting parts of myself, my emotions, thoughts, experiences, history, relationships, fantasies and dreams have brought me to a realm that I believe I must dive into without inhibition; therefore I must take a step back from this project.
I am really excited to see where Myka will take this.
His devotion to perfecting his craft is evident and now he has added a graphic element to match. I hope to continue to dialogue with Myka on the project because I always find our talks nourishing and inspiring. I will of course be a weekly reader. Until the next one!
Best,
Kellen
Myka: And with that . . . our theme of the week is transferability.
Today’s Lineup:
Experiment
Side A - Kapiolani Park
Side B - Physics
Side C - Transferability
Experiment:
Identify a random skill you have.
Remember where you learned it from.
Teach it to someone else.
Side A - Story
Last last Saturday, Kellen was visiting Hawaii and we met up at Kapiolani Park for a walk and talk. We shared stories about life, changes, problems, hopes, and feelings - you know, regular people stuff.
As we were rounding the corner of the park, he mentioned to me how he felt that he couldn’t do WB anymore because of his current life situation. Initially, I was supportive and expressed that I would be able to meet him where his time, effort, and energy levels were at. However, as we rounded the next corner of the park, he told me that he would rather see me simply take the reigns.
For this project, ever since the beginning, I’ve felt the immense potential of it.
It is part philosophy, part psychology, and at times it even skirts the line of spiritual (hence the mentioning of things like the sacred experiences and value). For me, at least, it’s been developed to the point of mental framework that has helped me navigate the most treacherous life situations.
Despite this, the initial idea wasn’t mine.
And I wanted to be sure that if it ever takes off, that I don’t take credit for something that isn’t mine. Something that I haven’t earned.
All of that is just a fancy way of saying I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the initial idea and my friend.
Kellen, in response told me - it was the opposite.
He wanted me to take the idea as far as it could go and he wanted to see how it could evolve outside of his purview. He was giving me the keys to the car.
Side B - Physics
I wasn’t the greatest science student, but the physical laws of nature were something that really stuck with me as accurate observations of the universe.
The law of conservation of energy loosely states that energy (and by extension, matter) can neither be created nor destroyed.
If energy apparently disappears, it hasn’t gone away, it simply has been transferred.
I feel that law even applies to things like Value and Wisdom.
Side C - Transferability
Much of this season looks at ways to earn Wisdom and by extension, reduce the problems caused by Unearned Wisdom. The previous themes are meant to be building blocks and stepping stones that form the answer of “How to earn Wisdom?”
The first step is perception - to see and interact with the world around.
The next step is identity - to turn that vision inward, to see yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, and biases.
After you can identify where you end and where the world begins - there is exploration - or the process of going into the world to refine yourself. Learn things, refine skills, intake new information.
What do people do after they go on trips and they have experiences? They share them with others. They tell stories. It is a fundamental human condition that as social and interactive beings we have a desire to share with others. Initially this might’ve been a survival tactic - “hey don’t go collect berries by that cave, there’s a beehive there.”
Story stores wisdom.
And by telling the story, that wisdom is transferred.
Ultimately, we use Unearned Wisdom every day. I often turn to google maps as the greatest example. The tool grants me incredible utility to do things I would be unable to do without it. I didn’t earn that Wisdom at all - but someone else did (probably a team). Those people put in the work, figured it all out, packaged it into an accessible product, and then shared it with others.
In this way, “transferability” or how well something can be used by another person is a solid measure of how earned the wisdom is or not. It doesn’t quite, “earn” the wisdom, but it shows how much of it has been.
In this way, that is why sometimes the best way to fully and completely learn something is to teach it to others.
Thank you Kellen, you will be missed! Wednesday Balms has been left in good hands and I look forward to reading it every week.