The Journey of Learning

“The person who set out on the journey is not the person who arrives.”

This is from one of my favorite poets David Whyte. It reminds me that what we experience changes our relationship with ourselves and the world.

Growing up, I was very studious and mostly learned about life through reading. As I’ve entered adulthood and my professional career, I’ve continued that book learning through trainings and listening to experts and mentors. But lately I’ve been discovering that I learn the most important lessons through doing. The things I’ve tried and blundered through, the mistakes I’ve made, the people I’ve failed or hurt have taught me more than I could have learned through any book. It’s been a more natural and more painful process of learning how to be in the world, rather than how to apply a concept or idea.

When the learning feels really hard, I’ve been repeating this mantra to myself:

”I am building my life on the wisdom that I am discovering.”

Instead of looking outside of myself for sources of wisdom, I am discovering that there is wisdom that comes from inside of myself, from deep in my gut. The me who set out on the journey is not the me who arrives.