“Education’s Purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”- Malcolm S. Forbes
This, coupled with the Oliver Wendall Holmes quote included in my last post–“A mind that has been stretched by a new experience never goes back to its old dimensions.”–explains what I’ve been trying to do with my life for the past couple years and (hopefully) the results of it as well.
I see experience and the people we meet as the biggest form of education. Of course, this is what life is for. We’re here to learn, to see, and to open ourselves to the infinite manifestations of source.
New experiences lead us to an open mind.
I want experiences that challenge me. I want experiences that blow my mind. I want experiences that are dangerous. I want experiences that might change my beliefs.
I think that many people shy away from experiences because they’ve been told not to do it. They’ve believes some lies they’ve been told by the church, society, their parents: “Don’t do this because it’s bad, dangerous, misleading, scary, etc etc.”
I decided not to believe what anyone had told me from a pretty young age. When I was in Christina school I tried to look at the world with eyes not clouded by dogma. I tried to think with my heart, instead of letting other people tell me what to think. I tried to discern what was Truth and what was not by hearing the intention behind it: hate or love. (I wasn’t really consciously doing this but now I see it for what it was).
This mindset enabled me to try things later in life with less resistance.
People told me I shouldn’t go to India because it was dangerous.
Most lovely trip I ever took.
People told me not to do (natural) drugs because they’re bad for you.
I’ve had my mind opened in so many amazing ways and have lost so much fear by seeing with clarity.
People told me moving across the world by myself would be hard.
It wasn’t.
Anything that scares you will make you grow. How amazing is that? You will learn your limits, see what you can conquer, get a feel for how much your soul can handle. It’s guaranteed by the very nature of the action.
Doing the same thing day in and day out creates habit. If there is not fear and no experience, the only way for growth is internal which is still valid, but also harder to do and requiring a good deal of commitment.
My perfect blend is internal resonation on external experiences. Whatever outside things happen to me and around me, they truly become my lessons when I look inside and process them without my ego stepping in and telling me what it is. In the end, the most likely result is that I see all the possibilities of what something could be and acknowledging it could be something totally different to someone else. Everything I have seen in this world has just led me to being more open.
These are the experiences I’m living for. Give me challenges, give me hardships, give me mind-blowing pleasures. Give me life.
