Chasing the Unknown
Two opposing natures we have:
A backwards-looking one
This person is known most of the time. She’s the collection of everything she came across — books, people, friends, songs, conversations, etc…
It’s answered, certain, and finite — known.
A forwards-looking one
This person is a collection of infinite unknown possibilities. It’s always pulling us forward in time towards the uncertainty — where will I be? who will I be?
It’s unanswered, uncertain, and infinite — unknown.
Just like how we have two natures of personalities, we also have two natures in which we interact with the unknown: either it’s forcefully pulling us, or excitedly waiting to be chased by us. No third option.
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Looking at the world from a new perspective
The world of unknowns and uncertainties seem to be quite scary for most of us; it’s a world of overwhelming possibilities. Our hands were created merely for the purpose of taking off the cloaks around us, and each cloak varies in how intimidating it can be and what it takes to uncover it. The reason why I’m speaking metaphorically, rather than using direct examples, is because we’re intimidated by various different things, different cloaks.
Pause and answer: what’s one unknown you’re afraid of? And what’s one unknown you enjoy uncovering and not necessarily afraid of?
Follow-up pause and answer: What’s the thing that makes you enjoy this kind of unknown rather than fear it? (You can feel both, but I mean that the joy predominates the fear)
Whatever you answered for the second question can be your new personal lens to use when looking at other forms of the unknown. If it wasn’t a convincing lens to you, or you selfishly want more lenses, you can find answers in “The two greatest gifts of the unknown” below. However, there is an important note to make here: the world of the unknown isn’t a separate world for it is the world that surrounds us. It’s as close to you as the next unknown sentence in this article.
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The two greatest gifts of the unknown
- Serendipitous moments
Where do we find serendipity? Wherever that place is, it’s always in the realm of the unknown (or let’s call it the realm of “yet-to-be known”) for it has this beautiful element of surprise.
Has it ever occurred to you that it’s us, not the unknown itself, that makes this more intimidating than it actually is? In fact, let me present to you a few examples of what can be hidden under cloaks: a book that is yet to be read, a conversation that is yet to be had, a piece or a song that is yet to be listened to, a person who is yet to be met, etc. I’m sure that you found a moment of serendipity when you’ve dived into one of these examples, does it mean that it’s not scary? Not at all, but the joy of serendipity takes over the fear.
Perhaps the precious gift of serendipitous moments is given only to those who have the courage to uncover the unknown and stay present with it.
2. “Alive” world
How did different fields of sciences, or any other, form? A very-very simplified way to put it: bunch of connected unknowns found worth to be grouped and to be further studied; therefore, let’s call this field X which will focus on diving into this realm of discovering the unknown.
The first world on the right looks alive: we’re trying to stretch out the two inner circles, even if the stretch is tiny — It’s alive.
For the second world which is “fully known” I imagine that time has stopped there for there is nothing to be done, no point to live in it, and utterly boring — It’s dead.
Is the unknown our ultimate fuel to keep this world, us, alive?
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Going inwards
What makes us look at a scary white paper and look forward to fill it with our work? It’s the impulse of question, and the drive to chase the unknown.
Some novelists have this approach when writing novels: they don’t fully plan the plot and the ending; they just build initial settings for their characters, and follow them along their unknown path (ex: J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury). I believe Beethoven had the same approach when composing his music, as each note followed by another note feels very “right”. I imagine that his brain followed the notes, not the opposite.
The unknown isn’t mainly about big questions (How long will I live? Will my marriage be a successful one? How does my long-term future look like?) as much as a small questions which we come across daily (What will this character do in the next page? Which topics will be covered in this group discussion? What will my progress in Y look like in 1 week? How would this phrase sound if I played the notes forte?)
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- What was the last unknown you’ve dived into?
- What are the unknown future selves you’d be interested to become?
- Describe your relationship with the unknown, be as poetic as you want to be.
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Email: anwaraalkandarii@gmail.com
Twitter: AnwarAlKandarii
IG: Anwaar.alk
