This stuff here that I want to write about today is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Like, Harry Potter type of brilliant. Not as complicated as practicing trying to say “Wingardium Leviosa!” in the right way, but still pretty brilliant.
It goes like this.We all know some stuff, every one of us. Thing is, because we are used to knowing the stuff that we know, we often underestimate it’s value, because, well, it’s just stuff we know, right?
Hmmmm.
I reckon it’s even worse when the stuff we know is really practical or useful in some way that, because we just naturally apply it or take the knowledge for granted - as if we have always known for example that the sky is blue and that walking around with it over our heads is the right way - we don’t think of it as special, valuable or worth sharing.
Even if the knowledge we have is more esoteric and thoughtful, rather than, for example, how to change a bicycle tyre quickly, or mend a leaking sink (I note here that I’ve picked two extremely useful examples that I’m still very woolly on....), we still tend to treat what we know or how we see things as, well, “normal” and not that special. Certainly not special enough to shout about.
Indeed, if I asked you right now to write a list of things that you know that could be of life-changing value to others, I bet that many of you would find that pretty hard to do and even when you get some stuff down on paper, you read through it and go “...........really?”
Hmmmm.
Wait for it, The brilliant bit is coming ok? I refer back to my previous point in paragraph 2. We all know stuff. We all know stuff but a lot of the time we just sort of forget that we do. Go on, write down some stuff that you know. Stuff to do with your work or your life or your feelings about either or anything. Stuff you learnt in school that you remember because for some reason it still resonates. Stuff that you practice in your daily life or in your loves and hobbies. Be random, quick about it and try not overthink. To begin with you may end up writing things like “My car runs on diesel”, or “Blue rinses are ok after 60,” whatever. Keep going and stuff will start to come out.
Once you have your list, if you like you can then take your favourites and by that I mean the things that resonate in you; make you feel like they are halfway relevant (remember, a lot of what you have likely written down you have either not thought about specifically for years or you are simply so used to knowing it, it might not feel that special).
Then having chosen the ones that feel more meaningful, you could go a step further (this isn’t essential at this point, but it can be interesting) and group them into more general areas of knowledge. These might be “stuff I know about cooking pies” or “why I am not frightened of strange dogs” or “why early to bed and early to rise is right for me”.
Once you’ve done all that you’re ready for the brilliant bit. (cos it’s brilliant, honest).
Look at your list and you may well notice something that all of us who are doing this are noticing too. Quite a few of the things on your list seem like stuff that everyone knows.
Let’s rewrite that a few times and with some little adjustments:
Quite a few of the things on your list seem to you like stuff that everyone knows.
Quite a few of the things on your list seem like stuff that everyone might know.
Quite a few of the things on your list seem to you like things that some people might know.
You see where I’m going with this? Yup. That impression that makes you feel like the stuff in your list isn’t special in any way is caused by supposition. Even if it is true to a degree and yes, lots of people all over the place know lots of the same stuff, can you remember when you read an engaging article or watched a great TV programme where the writer or presenter shares something with you in an interesting and original way and you go “Ah! Yeah I knew that!”
Did that stop you being engaged and entertained? Wasn’t it nice to be reminded of the thing you knew and in such an engaging way too? It may even have given you some fresh ideas on using that stuff that was hiding in the back of the cabinet of your brain.
You see - and this is the brilliant bit ok? We’ve arrived! - the knowledge that you know, the things that you have learned, the ways of working or the techniques, the attitudes that work or the recipes for food or life or both that you’ve collected without sometimes even noticing...
All these things are special, even if every single person in existence knew everything that you do.
All these things you know and have learned, big or small, practical or thoughtful or both, simple or complicated. They are all special and worth sharing for one reason:
Nobody, anywhere, ever, has ever known this stuff the way that you do.
and (I lied. For this to be totally brilliant there’s the second bit)
Nobody, anywhere, ever, has your voice.
See? Told you.