Just as our bodies require nourishment and our lungs depend on fresh air, our souls are sustained by wisdom. This wisdom is not a luxury but an essential component of true human life. In a world where meaning is elusive, the absence of wisdom can leave us existentially malnourished and adrift in life. How might we attain this wisdom? In this post I suggest that we at least need to seek wonder and sages for wise growth, for wisdom.
The Value of Wisdom
Without wisdom are fools. There are stark warnings surrounding being a fool. A fool is one who is self disillusioned, destroys himself and his relationships, and is unable to ultimately act in a way that aims for and achieves meaning. Few things in life can be as important to gain! We all know those with good doses of talent and opportunity who fail to achieve what their talent is capable of. We can think of those with less talent and prestige navigate situations and ultimately obtain a good outcome. What do they have that perhaps someone with talent lacks? Wisdom can often be the decisive difference and is worth more certainly than talent.
In another post, I discussed some aspects of wisdom so that we know what we are looking for. Since wisdom is so important, I want to explore at least two ways that we grow and acquire it.
First Way to Wisdom: a Sage
There are at least two ways that we can begin to grow in wisdom. We must seek wonder and sages for wise growth. Having a sage person in mind as a point of reference, like Bruce Wayne’s Alfred or a grandfather, is essential in our understanding of wisdom.
Why? Wisdom is not an abstract concept or a principle, it is a character trait. As a character trait, it is lived out and embodied. And we only learn what wisdom is and how to become more wise when we have a sage to look to and emulate. Wisdom is sort of like a high grade skill that does not come through formulaic principles nor expertise in a domain but lived experience. Because of this essential lived component, we must have mentors and examples on how to do it.
We have an intuitive sense that book smarts and street smarts are different–and rightfully so. We do not want to succeed in school and flunk at life. Life is different from school: you can’t merely learn it through studying a textbook. Of course, books can help us grow in wisdom, but not without a guide and example of wisdom that we can follow. This is why mentors, both professional and personal, are so crucial for our flourishing and ultimately important in our question for a truly meaningful life.
Second Way to Wisdom: Wonder
Wise mentors are not the only thing that we need in order to grow in wisdom. We also need to be open and even seek to be amazed at the world and our position in it. We can call this amazement mixed with curiosity, “wonder.”
Wonder is that delightful emotion that we experience in the face of something that is a bit mysterious and beautiful and thrusts us into exploring it more. While it may be hypothetically possible to learn about reality and how it works without any wonder whatsoever, few could muster the sustained attention required to do so.
Furthermore, without a wondering attitude, there would be something of wisdom missed since wisdom is not only about knowing reality (intelligence) but appreciating it and orienting ourselves to it properly. And this appreciating and orientation nicely flows out of wonder.
Both wise mentors and wonder roughly correspond to the two different wisdoms we look at in the previous post. Wise mentors can effectively teach us how to make decisions, improve our character, and provide action guidance. Wonder naturally spurs us on to explore how things work, the nature of things, and can even lead us to contemplate and appreciate them. These growth motivators certainly work in concert.
Finding Sages
Good mentors are hard to find. Some who would be worthy mentors fail to take up the role. Others mentees never muster up the courage to ask or do not have the opportunity to ask. Don’t let this be you! Seek out a trusted friend, or a friend of a friend, to eventually form a mentor relationship with. Establishing this relationship is a delicate process but is necessary. We never fail to need a mentor.
Finding Wonder
We can grow in wonder as well. A precursor to growing in wonder is to eliminate distractions. The modern digital world takes us away from the really wonderful aspects of the world that can thrust us into the pursuit of wisdom. Once we take the necessary measures to silence the surrounding things, we then need to train our attention in order to notice things around us to appreciate their wondrous qualities. There are more components to it, but I’ll leave that for another post.
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