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

Socrates

It’s truly a powerful statement when you consider all the things this means. I can’t fully unpack this here, but I will point out something I’ve learned in my travels.
There are billions of people in the world. Billions of lives that have lived and stories I have never heard about, nor will I ever get to hear due to them being lost over time. For example, I just found out recently that in Eredo (an area in southwest Nigeria), there used to be an ancient kingdom or city. It was so massive that 3.5 million cubic meters of earth had to be used to build it; in other words one million more cubic meters of earth and rock than the Great Pyramid at Giza. Yet I wouldn’t have found out about this if my aunt had not reccomended I read “When We Ruled” by Robin Walker (where I attained the information summarized here regarding Eredo). It’s almost as if the knowledge of this world wonder was lost to our collective knowledge. I reasoned this due to the fact that practically everyone I’ve asked about the place is just as clueless about it as I recently was.

Africa is a place rich in beauty, culture, and art, yet to most, it is shrouded in mystery and ignorance of its history. I’m approaching learning about it (and everything else in my life) with a concept I stumbled across 4 years ago: epistemological modesty.

About Sunbo’s Eredo in Nigeria

So what is epistemological modesty? It’s defined as “an attitude toward life, an understanding of how complex the world truly is and how frequently the law of untended consequences can be invoked.”
As I write this, I take a deep breath and look up at the sky. Endless blue. I stretch my arms and hands in the air, and the massive sky dwarfs them as they become just a spec on a massive canvas. I find it comforting that there are some things that just can’t really be explained or put into words. This is one of the reasons I think modesty as it relates to thinking is so important.

What if, instead of people assuming they already had you figured out, or that there was nothing you could share with them that they already know, they instead had their mind and their spirit open to hearing you. This would help prevent so many conflicts, misunderstandings, arguments, fights, and wars. Why? Let me ask you something. When people aren’t heard, what do they do? They raise their voice usually. The situation escalates. I think this is why when we look around, we see just that: oppressed people escalating their response to the injustice, gun violence, homophobia, discrimination, rudeness, and cruetly they experience.

We only have so much time, so why not focus on filling our minds with the most beautiful and amazing things possible? This picture, which I took in Redmond, Oregon, is one of many examples of that to me.

I had no plan of stopping by Smith Rock the day I took this photo. I found out about it from one of the locals, and the next thing you know, I take a bunch of photos, and one of them is all up on my Instagram weeks later!

One thing which I think really makes life worth living is that search and the joy of experiencing new things like this! I’m grateful for life with all its ups and downs. I’m even thankful for all I don’t know because every now and then, life fills that empty space with the serenity seen in this photo. With my mind more open to others and what the universe will throw at me, who knows what I’ll discover next! 😄❤️✌🏾️#photography #photographer #art #nature #landscape #oregon #beauty #writersofinstagram #blogger #writer