Uncertainty is your friend:
on cultivating a beginner’s mind
When I left my all-mapped-out academic path in 2007, I lost the illusion of certainty in my work life. Academic/professorial jobs are by no means a sure thing, but I’d thought of them that way, and by relinquishing them I was forced to come to terms with the uncertainty of the future (I describe this forced coming-to-terms in this 2007 post). At first this was painful; I went around all the time feeling confused, insecure, and worthless (read my experience in another 2007 post). But over time, the uncertainty became a familiar feeling. I’m still scared of many things, but I’m considerably more fearless than I used to be. When shifting ground becomes a way of life, one just gets used to it!
I wrote about this sensation of groundlessness in this post in 2011. There is a Zen concept of “beginner’s mind” which is all about openness, receptivity, and not knowing. As Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön writes in her book The Places That Scare Us, “By not knowing, not hoping to know, and not acting like we know what’s happening, we begin to access our inner strength.”
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