#60: Cleverness on Sale. Bewilderment Wanted.

«This for that» might often give you a fair deal.

And yet, why would you even consider giving away what has served you well over the years for something you have been hiding for just as long?

Jalaluddin Rumi, 13th Century Sufi mystic, famously promoted:

«Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.»

At first sight, this doesn’t sound like a good deal, does it?

The world around us values cleverness highly. Teachers praise you for it. Your next promotion might depend on it. It even tends to make you more attractive to those you would love to impress.

On the other hand, bewilderment lacks the clarity and sharpness of cleverness. It means confusion and disorientation. We naturally move away from it, push it away, hide or cover it. It feels repulsive in everything it stands for.

What does it buy us in real life anyway?

Let’s stick with «real» for a moment.

How «real» is the life we are all living? Hasn’t cleverness gotten us into the mess we are in as a human species? Doesn’t cleverness has the destructive power to kill your wildest dreams and ideas?

Clever. More clever. Most clever.

Wild. Wilder. Wildest.

To me, the one opens up to infinite possibility, the other leads down a dead-end street. You decide for yourself which one is which.

It is hard to let go, even harder to invite in.

But let’s try to be real again.

What if the wild was actually your real self?