Leonardo da Vinci was one of early polymaths I’ve encountered in my life. Well, not in the sense I have met him, more I have read about him. A polymath is someone who is well versed in multiple areas of knowledge and learning.
They are able to assimilate concepts and principles across their areas of knowledge and cross-pollinate ideas often resulting in new ways of approaching problems. Elon Musk is an example of a modern day polymath. I will mention over the last year I have met several polymaths who walk among us.
One of the many quotes attributed to da Vinci is, “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”
The concept of mastering yourself usually refers to an ability to control your own thoughts, emotions and actions through self-awareness. It’s considered to be foundational to mastering other areas of your life.
So why would I need this self-awareness stuff?
How we act and react in life is heavily influenced by our past experiences and what we’ve absorbed from them. Often those reactions are stored in our subconscious memories. The Buddhists would call them seeds in a stored consciousness that become triggered into consciousness.
With self-awareness, we can examine what has triggered the seed and how we’re reacting to it. Without self-awareness, we just react, for better or for worse.
I know within my own life there are situations, words, phrases that will trigger responses from me I don’t always understand. Often they re negative responses and lead to what can be an inappropriate response to someone who meant no threat.
By figuring out what triggered the response, I can sort through my own response and redirect the energy behind it. I had a friend once who described the process like cutting the wire below an electronic button to stop the reaction. Always liked that imagery.
While working through your internal messaging system is an important and personal process, you often wont to be able to accomplish doing so without some external learning and guidance. This requires a level of humility to accept and welcome the outside input as a way of enriching my learning. Not always easy to do.
Overcoming the Ego
Our ego is the part of us which is driven by fear, desire and a need for validation from others. It’s the root of the negative emotions, like anger, guilt and envy. Identifying the ego and how to move beyond it is a vital part of our internal mastery. The ego creates inner distractions that serve to hide our true self.
Identifying the ego and moving beyond it re-establishes the true self we were born as. Connecting successfully leads to a deeper sense of personal freedom, peace, love and wisdom. There is no magic to doing this. It takes a lot of self-awareness and instrospection.
We’re Not As Solitary As We Think
Even though we are individuals, even uniquely individuals, we are not alone in this world. Our energies form connectedness even if we don’t know it’s happening. Ever notice how you’ll feel an ‘instant connection’ with another person even without knowing them? It’s a connection of subtle energy.
As we explore our innerself and start to build connections to our true self, we also start to learn there is an interconnectedness to all things. Our actions and thoughts have an impact on the world around us. I’ve had times in my life where I’ve felt that connectedness but usually chalked it up to that singular situation rather than the bigger picture.
Letting go of old patterns of thinking and behaviour can be scary. It can also lead to a path of constant self-discovery, growth and learning more about our place in the world, and indeed the universe. If you’re willing to take the journey, it’s a life-long process.
I’ve always enjoyed learning… how about you?
Shadowspub writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s
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