Writer Maria Popova speaks of our need “to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, and to combine and recombine these pieces and build new ideas” if we seek to be creative and truly want to contribute to the world.

To reach this level of creativity and understanding of our beliefs, it is important that we be open to change.  After noting that we should allow ourselves the “uncomfortable luxury” of changing our minds, Popova writes:

“We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our ‘opinions’ based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around asserting these donned opinions and clinging to them as anchors to our own reality. It’s enormously disorienting to simply say, “I don’t know.” But it’s infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right — even if that means changing your mind about a topic, an ideology, or, above all, yourself.”

Here’s to taking the time to be truly informed and — when the situation calls for it — to change our minds.  Have a good week.

More to come…

DJB

Image by DJB: Anglesey Abbey Garden, Cambridge, England