Food for the brain: The bliss of Not Knowing

Hello you,

How does the unknown appeal to you ? Are you comfortable with the idea of stepping in an uncertain situation or having to accomplish a task without having a clue on how to deal with it ?

Some of you might be thrilled by this idea, finding it exciting and invigorating but a lot of us, probably the vast majority (including me), have a more fearful approach towards the unknown, feeling lost and paralyzed when facing the darkness.

A few days ago, I stumbled accross a great book on the subject : "Not Knowing, the art of turning uncertainty into opportunity"by Steven D'Souza and Diana Renner.

Written originally as a management book, the knowledge and the concrete examples presented in the book can easily be applied to any aera of our dailylife. Through a diverse range of inspirational stories from people in all walks of life, the authors unveil the mindset and skills of those who not only tolerate the unknown but use it to their advantage- to experience joy, creativity, excitement and possibility for their whole lives.

Through the book we learn how having to face the unknown is actually a blessing in disguise. Ditching the comfort of knowledge and expertise and stepping into the unknown with a humble and curious attitude is actually a powerful way to grow as a human being.

Common wisdom states that knowledge is king, the teacher knows and earns respect for that, the leader has to know because he is the leader and when your boss drops a question to you on a subject you should be informed on you often mumble a vague answer by fear of being uncovered as a fool who doesn't know...

This mindset is so ingrained in our societies that we have forgotten what accepting the limits of erudition can bring to us. Leaning into your own Not Knowing makes you more strong, open-minded, brave and prone to grab oppportunities in life!

Those who hold tight to what they know and refuse to see further have a limited perception of the world where knowledge would be something fixed and timeless... A vain illusion in world where science, technology, economy and therefor knowledge has never changed so quickly!

"Being in the dark is a space of full potential".

I highly recommend reading this book to anyone willing to grow and  become a fuller version of themselves.

I bought my copy on Amazon but it is broadly available in bookshops as well !

Hope you enjoyed the post! If you have any good book recommendation please comment below !

Cheers x

Talia

Food for the brain: My favourite TED talks

Hello you,

Today I wanted to start the day by sharing some of my all time favourite TED Talks, these are talks that made me think, change and grow!

If you are not familiar with what TED is it's a global set of conferences run by a non- profit organization under the slogan " Ideas worth spreading". Since 1990 conferences have been held around the world on a myriad of subjects such as technology, psychology, science, business amongst many others. 

I love going to their website  and browse through various topics and talks ( always more stimulating than falling into a cat videos black hole ;)

• My first pick is a talk called "The paradox of choice" made by the american psychologist Barry Schwartz. In this video he discusses how the freedom of choice deeply rooted in our western societies has made us not freerer but more paralysed. An eye-opening talk !

• My second pick is a talk called "The power of vulnerability" made by american social researcher Brené Brown. In this talk Brené shares her own life experience and discoveries to  show us why our vulnerability is so precious and important to our life. A very soothing talk !

• And finally for all the lovers out there, listen to my last pick to discover how love acts exactly like a drug on your brain ! Canadian anthropologist Helen Fisher explains it all in this funny talk called "The brain in love" !

Hope you enjoyed this post !

Cheers x

Talia