To Know and Not Know

You can’t engage men’s work without thinking about mansplaining. What is it about us that wants to act like a “know it all?” What is it that we are performing? What is it that we are trying project?

As we continue our study of “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover” we look into the archetype of the “Precocious Child.” The curious part of us. The part that is eager to learn and to generously share what we are learning. The part that may mature into a magician.

And we look at its shadow aspects, like the “know-it-all trickster” and its sense of superiority. Or the “dummy” aspect who is the part of us that’s hiding, lacking the courage to come into the world.

There is an empty knowing that can become an ugly part of masculine posturing. There is a not knowing that is nothing but a refusal to face things as they are. But there is a knowing that is anchored by a healthy sense of self. This is the knowing that allows us to hold ourselves. It opens to a confident humility that also allows us to not know what we don’t know. To remain curious and open to growth.

We don’t need to put on act hoping to be seen a certain way. We don’t need to envy those who are lost in status games. What we need to do is come to know our truest Self.

The less a man is in touch with his true talents and abilities, the more he will envy others. If we envy a lot, we are denying our own realistic greatness, our own Divine Child. What we need to do, then, is to get in touch with our own beauty, and our own creativity. Envy blocks creativity.

On Monday, we’ll focus on the section of the book that opens with “The Precocious Child” and ends before we start with “The Oedipal Child.”

I look forward to being with you.

Saludos,

Gibrán