I Will Cringe At This Later

I’ve been trying to become more sensitive to internal sensations, and an interesting one is the feeling of knowing. There’s a world of difference between feeling like you know something and actually knowing it. I assume that’s what Richard Feynman was referring to in this quote:

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.

As a person with opinions, I’d like to believe that some of them have value. And as long as they stay in my head, they all seem to. But writing them down shines a swift and merciless light that instantly reveals their true character — something that never fails to be a humbling experience. But you can only grow by facing the reality of your limitations.

Hence the title of this post. It’s no mystery that quality thinking and writing go hand in hand. So I’m facing the fact that I’ve got a lot of room to improve — and that means most of these early articles will make me cringe later. That’s what it takes to be good at something. I will choose not to live in the comfortable illusion.