Image from Carla Cascales Alimbau
There was a time in our life when the one goal and aim was to know everything and anything. To us, this meant fewer worries— little room and risk for the dreaded Mistake.
We're not wrong to feel that way. While it's a normal thing to want to avoid mistakes and the dreaded aftermath of not knowing, there's a particular challenge that's harder to shrug off. For women, we have been trained with a different pressure by society that requires us to put more effort— a weight of proving ourselves in every room we walk in. For us, not knowing could look like a threat to career or character, a look or the slightest tone in the voice that doubt us from other people that makes us falter or rethink our own capabilities. From that, we developed the strange need to walk into situations, conversations with the knowledge of everything. I have to know this to belong, and this is something women have to prove.
While we can't deny that we benefitted from honing the skill of being in the know and having that grit as we see more and more women being given opportunities that would have once been a dream, we wanted to shrug that burden off— embrace curiosity and the possibility for growth. We have to try and embrace that we don't know everything. The world is big, and although we grow every day learning new things, that only broadens our horizons with even more questions from where we began. It's not a weakness but a beauty we have to start accepting.
That's why we're taking the unconventional act of not knowing— here's what it does for:
Discovery & curiosity.
Image from Nicole
Whenever we're unabashedly ourselves is when we’re unencumbered with not knowing. All the questions start coming in. It can be as mundane as wondering who's the genius behind elastic hair ties or as profound as the meaning of life. In those idle moments, when we're not pressured into proving we know everything is when we let our curiosities run wild.
Before we know it, those idle curiosities begin to ignite creativity and wonder. The simple "why does this work that way" coupled with the right action might be the spark we've needed all along to get an idea moving— the inspiration we need to solve a problem.
Embracing the act of not knowing could also mean embracing the possibility to discover new ways to improve what we already have. Not knowing means abandoning the closed-off mindset and being rooted only at what we’re familiar with (even if it no longer aligns with us) and being open to the healthy changes we could welcome in our lives for the better.
Connection & mindfulness.
Image from Behance
When we try and start accepting not knowing, we become more open. We're okay with sitting with a group of people from different walks of life— with no idea what they're good at, what their backgrounds are. We’re releasing the worry of feeling like we have to always be on the same level or higher than those we connect with. Instead of going into it with the mindset that you have to know every little thing they could say and create unnecessary pressure and anxiety, we can walk into it with the thinking that we're about to come out of it enriched if we had an open mind.
Embracing this opens our eyes to what connection could really mean. We become receptive and active listeners, present and mindful in each conversation we take part in because of the curiosity. Trust us when we say that you’ll not only feel fulfilled when you do this once in a while, but the other end of the party will feel it too!
The next ones in line.
Image from Carla Cascales Alimbau
Letting ourselves dabble into not knowing now and then could make the most impact on the next Woman in Progress®️ down the line. By slowly shaking off the burden of having to prove ourselves all the time and passing the weightless wonder of the unknown, we can create a kinder space that allows each other to grow and learn without shame or pressure.
It's in these small acts (that we don't even have to do too often) that could help us collectively become better people. All we have to do is act on it and pass the mindset on.
Try these out, even once in a while. Release the unnecessary burden, heed to your curiosities and see where they take you for the better. If you're finding it hard to do or a little too risky: start small and simple. It won't take an overnight resolution to change what seems ingrained in us, but you'll be able to feel and see the difference inside and out!
Thumbnail from Carla Cascales Alimbau and Behance