GUEST POST: UNLEARN

While some people like to hide behind fictional characters, others are so open it breaks your heart. It breaks your heart because to be like them is your seemingly unattainable dream for when you grow up, or when you die and come back recast as ratatouille. Okay, maybe not the second part because lol, this is not a Charles Dickens book. They break your heart with the familiar truths said with an unfamiliar boldness. Or more accurately, they melt your heart. No kidding, such people exist. I had the privilege of meeting one such person who blogs (more like journals) here, and she was kind enough to write me a blog post because here, we love guests. Don’t we? Well, my people, meet Jackie Naserian. (Exotic name, right?)

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Unlearn. Just one simple word. A heavy word.

Easier said than done you say, and I couldn’t agree more. This one little word is Atlas carrying the world on his shoulder.

Unlearning has been in my every day these days. It’s been the recurrent feature in this chapter of my life. You can imagine how hard that’s been; if you can’t, allow me to illustrate.

Pick a jar, drop in all sorts of coins, stash all the paper you can find and if there’s still some space, pour in concrete and let it not only fill the spaces left but cement everything together. Leave that jar for a year, then a second one, eventually, get to over a quarter century.

Now take your jar, attempt to empty it. I say attempt seeing that it will be a feat and a half. Do it in the most brutal way- remove one item at a time as you replace it. Feel the agony? Frustrated enough?

Imagine how it’s like to pick up notions, habits and beliefs over the years, have them imprinted on your mind then try to get rid of them. As adults, we become set in the way we do things, treat people, perceive things, inter alia. It becomes integral to who we are. No wonder they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

So teaching me how to unlearn, was and still is a tall order. One that only my Maker can manage. I tend to be stubborn and believe my way or my reasoning is the best way. However, in the recent past, I’ve had to (painfully) let go of a lot of that.

It’s been quite an experience learning to unlearn. It occasionally meant that things had changed and I had to adapt but most times, it meant that I had to admit I might not always be right. Notice how hard it is for me to even acknowledge that I was wrong. It’s not been easy but it definitely has been worth it.

I’m starting to see people in a different light and situations from a different angle. Most of all, I’ve had my mind being renewed and being aligned properly. In giving up the keys to the room I had locked myself in, I was ushered into a realm that was filled with infinite wonder and countless possibilities.