9.22.23 // Oscar Wilde

“If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I will call the artistic life if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward.” ― Oscar Wilde
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If each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward....
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Oscar Wilde's quote is steeped in curiosity, non-judgment, and expectations tossed beautifully to the wind. It is a taste of trust, surrender, and the sweet friendship that can come from the unknown.
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When I heard this quote I wrote it down, sent it to my mom, and re-read it each following day. I let the words that were no longer new tease me with familiarity and challenge me to understand them from a new perspective.
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And while I twisted my perspective like a Rubik's cube, my feeling towards this quote never stopped being one of deep adoration.
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For those who feel "lost" especially in the current culture of work and life, this quote is a deep "seeing" and validating. It is a reminder that "not knowing" can be a beautiful existence.
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From boredom comes creativity, and from unknowing comes realms of possibility.
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When the box doesn't exist, dreaming outside of it becomes natural and normal. The unknown becomes less scary and if we can silence the expectations of others telling us the "shoulds" and "coulds" of what to do, then we surrender and trust that whatever comes next is going to be great. Trust in the unknown creates an environment where failure is no longer seen as the damning final nail in the coffin, but just another step towards who knows what to who knows where.
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I don't think Wilde is suggesting we "do nothing," but rather that we let go of singular and restrictive definitions of who we are and reject the notion that we are defined by just one "something". And what a beautiful adventure life will be when we let that unknown and possibility be the great reward for passionate uncertainty lined with curiosity.