I like being the dumbest person in the room.
Being the dumbest person in the room means I am about to learn some interesting shit.
I can listen, I can ask questions, and I’ll know more when I walk out of here than when I walked in.
I used to be afraid to reveal when I didn’t know something. I remember freezing up when asked my opinion on something I didn’t know about.
It seemed like a failure or a personal flaw.
As if somehow I should know enough about… everything?
What a silly idea.
At this point in my life, I know a lot about a few things, a little about a fairly wide variety of things, and absolutely nothing about even more things.
Even if I spend the rest of my life actively learning (which is basically what I get to do) I’ll die in pretty much the same situation.
There is always more to learn.
Every new topic I explore opens up entire areas I didn’t even know I didn’t know about. Every hilltop of learning reveals a new landscape of ignorance.
And that is absolutely cool with me.
Because I love learning. I love learning not for an end goal (though sometimes I have those). I love learning as a process. It’s a meaningful, enjoyable activity, a damn good way to spend my hours.
So I don’t worry about not knowing things. I get excited about it. Every time I don’t know things is an opportunity to do my favorite thing: learn.
No I don’t know about that topic or book or genre or hobby or concept or research or idea. Tell me about it. What do you like about it? What do you know? How did you learn? What’s interesting to you? How does it fit into your life? Fill me in. Give me details.
My favorite gift is knowledge. It’s so lovely, too, how generous people are with knowledge. I love that. I eat it up.
Being the dumbest person in the (literal or virtual) room is being at a knowledge buffet. An information smorgasbord. A feast of potential learning.
So many delicious choices. What an absolute delight.