Wisdom?

It would seem that the older I get and the more I learn about the world, about people, the less I seem to have a grasp on these things. It would seem a paradox, but the more I learn, the less I seem to really know. Less and less makes sense to me. Perhaps wisdom is nothing more than accepting the fact that there are no answers to most of life's questions, or else we simply have to make up our own and go with them. Perhaps the only truth we can really know is our own, which may not translate to any other soul on this earth or elsewhere.

I have been lost in a world of movies, television, written word, and stories these past days, trying to escape the unsettling realizations that the landscape of my family is about to change again in profound ways. It is at these junctures, these turning points, that we see people for who they really are. We discover how those around us respond to crisis, how they deal with what is put on their plates. Whether it be divorce, a major death, a tragic accident, a severe illness, etc., what it tends to do is give us a new perspective, a new way at looking at our existence, our relationships, our place in the larger scheme of things.

As I watch the screen and read the words on the pages of my books, lost in the stories of others, it occurs to me to remember the differences in the way people live, the differences in what we find acceptable, the differences in our overall life experiences that can make us aliens to each other, unable to grasp how another sees the world because we do not know their journey, the path they have taken to get to us. We do not know their past, their upbringings, what has been taught and ingrained in them by society, by religion, by schooling, by experience. We do not know of what they are ignorant, what they have been denied experiencing in their lives that has prevented the perspective needed to understand us, to understand others around them.

There is a gap, a space between me and you, between all of us. At some level there is a lack of understanding that may not be able to be overcome, at least not without some effort. Our challenge is to make that effort, to learn about other people, other cultures, other ways of thinking that can enrich us, give us a deeper understanding of those around us. The more I learn, the more I know that there is never just one way of doing things, never just one way to live. Change is the only constant in this world, but it would seem to be an accelerated process in my own life at the moment, or at least in the lives of those close to me. I am just hoping for the wisdom enough to figure out how to fit into yet another altered state of existence in this world.

You will excuse me if I am feeling a little more philisophical today than usual. There are many thoughts running through my head, many questions, and they are only just beginning to take shape into a form I can express to you. Bare with me.