The Art of Intellectual Humility.
The older I get, the more I realise how wrong I’ve been on so many things, including some of my identity forming beliefs and things I’ve come to cherish.
I often reflect on how often I misjudged a person or a situation, only to realise that years later, I’ve evolved to see their point of view and in some situations, even adopt it.
As someone who spends my days creating more space for women and girls via Pathfinders (the for-Impact org I founded), I’m learning to recognise and accept my own fallibility and embrace the fact that my greatest teachers are often my ‘opponents’ and those who I’ve often considered misguided, misogynistic and even bigoted. Because the truth is that no one is ever 100% right…or wrong.
And so, I’m learning to maintain respectful dialogue in order to enrich my limited understanding and to preserve the inherent sanctity and dignity of each person with whose presence I’m graced, regardless of their religion, sexuality, class and gender. Everyone is worthy of that acknowledgment- everyone.
To this end, I’m evolving into what some have termed a “critical minority,” particularly in Nigeria where my often unyielding perspective is generally unpopular and unwelcomed.
But yet, we must continue to reach across the aisle, build bridges and lead with love and compassion in order to engage in those difficult, uncomfortable conversations…because that is where the light comes in.
And when I’m wrong, I’m summoning the courage to admit it and admit it quickly.
This is the journey of intellectual humility.
