The Wisdom of Nothingness

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

~ Socrates

Nothingness is the backdrop of all somethingness. The space around my fingers typing this sentence is what enables the existence of my fingers. Without nothing, there could not be something.

So, why does the idea of nothingness matter? Well, it doesn’t, and that’s the point.

In life we can be consumed constantly by everything we need to do, all we have to learn and striving to make our life mean something. However, true freedom is found in letting go of the striving to be something more than we are.

When I say “striving” I am not meaning that we give up on trying to improve our skills or capabilities for contributing more positively in the world. What I mean is the feeling of lack many of us feel which causes us to want more – to be more – than we are now.

Nothingness is connected with being fully present. Time, which we perceive as moving forward along a linear path, is measured. Time creates memories, and our memories create our perceptions of who we are.

Nothingness does not have a perception of who we are. It is simply existing here and now, and outside of time.

To say that wisdom is found in knowing you know nothing, means we approach knowledge with the humility of nothingness. It does not mean we claim ignorance or stupidity, rather, that we engage with the world with greater curiosity than concrete opinion.