George Leonard, bestselling author, dubbed “a learner” by a mountain man is invited to his home in the Los Padres mountain wilderness near Big Sur to instruct the mountain man on how to become a learner. Arriving at this remote location the mountain man walks Leonard through his sculptures, chronologically and indicates to Leonard where he had lost his spark, and stopped being a learner. “Tell me. How can I be a learner?”, says the mountain man. Leonard exhausted from the long and dangerous drive his mind blank hears himself responding, “It’s simple. To be a learner, you’ve got to be willing to be a fool.”
Later, Leonard goes on to explain to the readers of his book, Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment that he is referring to the spirit of a medieval court jester. The ability to create a fertile void, to empty oneself of all knowing and thus allow creativity to spring forth from a place of emptiness within us.
Are you willing to empty yourself of all knowing? Are you willing to play the fool? Are you willing to create a fertile void from which you can create the life that you want? If not now, then when? When will you stop living your life as if you will live forever?