Connecting the dots

For many years of my adult life, I was tortured by the notion that I “didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

Notes on dots connecting, inspired by a client who saw patterns in looking backward.

The only thing I was certain of was that I was mostly unhappy in my day job. But I couldn’t see how that connected to anything else.

I knew what I didn’t like, but I didn’t have any clue what I actually did like.

If I could tell my former self anything on this topic, I’d say.

“This is not actually a problem.”

I think there’s way too much emphasis on the need to know. Because not knowing can feel edgy. And most of us don’t like to walk on the edge.

The dots never connect when we look forward. We forget that a lot, and we torture ourselves trying to draw ahead. The dots only connect backwards. That’s when everything makes sense.

And isn’t that a huge relief? That we don’t have to know? To me it feels exploratory, creative and adventurous. And maybe you’re not into that.

But I’d much rather wander towards the edge than know exactly how the rest of this movie’s gonna play out.