I want to talk about Wisdom today. 

What does wisdom mean to you?

I once believed that wisdom came with age. The older I got the wiser I would be. A common belief. Would you agree?

 But, I’ve come to know that many (maybe most) common beliefs are myths that we’ve subscribed to without question. Now, however, I see wisdom as the ability to question and discern for myself what I do and don’t believe, and a deeper understanding that any belief is simply that – a belief.  My belief in it is what makes it true, for me. 

This got me thinking about the inner wisdom that has always existed in me, and you. 

We have always been wise. We have always known who we are. 

As a young girl, I was told many things. Don’t sit like that. Don’t be so loud. Sit still. Stand up straight. Don’t say that. Don’t let boys touch you. (Yep…I was told that). Don’t be angry. Don’t be like that. 

I was told I wasn’t a good reader because I didn’t like reading what was assigned in school. I wasn’t good at art…that was particularly crushing. I loved to read and write, but that’s not a job. I was told to be serious, that life isn’t a game, and that there would be consequences if I weren’t more serious. 

My inner wise child knew this was all bullshit. 

Still, I complied out of fear. Fear of punishment, humiliation, abandonment. Fear is a powerful feeling and is absorbed by the body – our subconscious mind. So, these bullshit ideas stick like glue.

We are taught to dismiss our inner wisdom. 

It isn’t ‘practical’ and makes others uncomfortable when we are our true selves. This is culture. We follow it because we want to belong. It’s human nature. True belonging begins with belonging to ourselves; being our true selves. 

Does wisdom come with age? We have always been wise. 

What does come with age is the realization that we no longer care about what others think and the willingness to unbind ourselves from this cultural nonsense. 

We have always been wise. We knew when they said to sit down we needed to stand. When they told us to be quiet we had meaningful things to say. When they told us to tone down our brilliance and boldness, we knew we were the teachers, the artists, the healers, the disrupters, the mystics, the singers, the writers, and the scientists…the light bearers.

What comes with age is that we are willing to be imperfect in a world that demands perfectionism. Can you feel the truth and joy in that statement?

We are no longer willing to be good little girls and be quiet. We are wise, always have been, and freaking furious at the function of a patriarchal culture that has repressed and suppressed our spirits, our brilliance, and our love. Yes, love. 

We’ve been taught that love means shelling ourselves out to everyone else and settling for breadcrumbs for ourselves. We tell ourselves it’s okay, but cry ourselves to sleep at night. 

We learned not to trust our own needs, feelings, and desires. They’re too much. We are too much. When in truth, we are exactly right. We are enough. 

So, dear sister-friend, I invite you to embrace that wise inner child. Invite her back into your life. Sing. Dance. Write. Draw. Paint. To be loud, bold, run don’t walk, and for the love of all that is, to play, play, play.

Let life be the playground for the wisdom of your spirit to soar. Let all who are uncomfortable with that be uncomfortable. Their discomfort isn’t about you. It never was. 

With love,