Lessons From A Nerd.
On ethics, morality and life.
I was gifted a lot of books on my 16th birthday by a family friend and one I think I really enjoyed was a bite-size quotation about everything from the greatest mind of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein. I was grateful he didn’t talk about a lot of science related things but much on everything and anything, and I wrote my thoughts and would really love to share them with you.
ON ETHICS AND MORALITY
Where the pure sees purity, the pig sees smut.
This metaphorically implies that not all of us see things from the same perspective. We all have levels of moral awareness and some of us sometimes unapologetically are more prone to seeing things in a negative light, while others have an optimistic outlook, always expecting the best from everything in life.
Someone said “the mind is a filter” and this means our interpretations of the world and how we see it are filtered through our experiences and biases.
We often project our thoughts on others and these perceptions are often a reflection of our own character.
For instance, I’ve known my dad to always suspect everyone he meets, he doesn’t fully trust especially anyone he’s still getting to know, this applies also in his relationships. He often thinks people have an ulterior motive which isn’t always the case.
It’s the same for a creative person, we see possibilities and potentials in things that others may see as ordinary or mundane. When others see broken, we see whole. When they see imperfections, we admire the beauty of it. Let’s say wabi sabi.
Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion toward men and towards objective things.
I understood this better after watching Frankenstein. Victor was driven by so much hatred for his dad and the loss of his mother. He wanted so much to be more than his dad, and became so obsessed with creating life, but he didn’t consider the consequences or the well being of his creation. If he had approached his creation with love and devotion, perhaps it would have been different.
Sometimes ambition feels hollow and unfulfilling but when we’re driven by love, devotion and genuine interest in people and what we love that’s when we create something valuable and meaningful.
Now we all are looking for the easy route to fast money. And the fast ways carry no genuine depths that lead to lasting happiness, it’s more suffering that reminds you to lock in, a lot of focus on objective things, we rather chase success and recognition. We do what needs to be done when our minds are elsewhere, that’s not passion.
Like in Ebun’s note on December 18th he said “Getting outcome without process is the fastest way to build something that will not last”. He meant that when we focus solely on the end result without putting in the necessary effort, time and resources, we are likely to end up with something fragile, unstable and short lived.
In relationships we are there for others not because we genuinely want to but because we need to, no efforts to communicate or listen. There’s no connection or whatsoever, it’s like you enjoy showing up, but not really being present.
Ambition shouldn’t just be about reaching the top, but about the growth, learning, and the love we experience along the way . It’s a mindset shift from “I want to achieve this” to “I’m committed to this process, and I’ll learn and grow from it”.
ON LIFE
I never think of the future —it comes soon enough.
I’ve always worried about the future since grade 7. I had planned how many kids I wanted, the kind of man I wanted to marry, how big or small my wedding would be, my type of car, the kind of house I was going to build and how many seaters and flower plants would be needed.
I imagined my life to be simply peaceful, mild challenges, and a small family. Some of the things I expected or wanted at an earlier age didn’t happen, did I feel bad yes! But here’s what I realized, God doesn’t always show us what the future would be like, we only pray ahead that the ride is smooth and ask for the wisdom to handle it all.
The future comes and happens. I’m currently living in the future of my 6yr old self, very uncertain, very adventurous, very confusing. We only live it, we make the mistakes and learn, and pray to continue to live it rightly.
Now I’m learning not to think too much of it, when it comes, I’ll embrace it and learn from it.
Never lose a holy curiosity.
Feifei said “Sometimes, curiosity kills the cat and the truth doesn’t bring it back”. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. While it leads to uncomfortable truths (curiosity kills the cat), the truth itself is usually worth exploring and understanding (it doesn’t bring it back, but it can set you free). Mind you I’m not referring to what she posted, because it’s a different meaning all together.
Having “holy curiosity” just means embracing the wonder, even when it’s tough. It’s you being brave enough to ask questions, seek answers, and face the truth, that’s when the learning and progress happens.
Sometimes we can’t help but seek the clarity we need in our relationships, or the possibility of the thoughts we have when we overthink and we don’t want to assume or jump into conclusions. Sometimes it’s the silence that lingers between you and the person you care about, you wonder if the silence is the one that lingers in care, or the one that avoids a certain level of intimacy with you.
You’re not avoiding the potential risks of being curious, but you’re choosing to accept them and move forward anyway.
There’s much truth in the saying that it is easy to give just and wise counsel to others!—but hard to act justly and wisely for oneself.
I remember mentioning this in on of my publication titled Ekklesia, so I won’t emphasize much on this.
We are more objective and clear-sighted when it’s the problems of other people. We tell them what they should do and what they shouldn’t. We advise them with words from memes, podcasts and Ted talks. We have a clearer vision of what the issue is, but when it’s our turn we let our emotions and self-interest cloud our judgment when it comes to our decisions and actions. We struggle to apply that same wisdom to ourselves.
We should humble and recognize that we sometimes have a double standard, all we need do it step back, reflect and apply such justice to ourselves that we so readily offer.
I think I enjoyed this a little too much. I only hope you do too. I’d be giving you the second part of this package but don’t fail to tell me how this resonated with you and what you learnt, I do welcome healthy opinions too. Stay beautiful my loves 💋
Beautiful post!❤️
I especially liked the quote about never losing a holy curiosity.
Too many people I've interacted with are not curious enough. Intelligent, but not curious.
"Where the pure sees purity, the pig sees smut."
The bible puts this beautifully, to the pure all things are pure