I don’t know if you guys know this about me yet, but I love quotes. Most often I’m drawn to the kind that hits a little too close to home–the kind where you have to put the book down and take a couple breaths before picking it back up again. But lately in this season that I’m in, a season that’s fast and unexpected and exciting and all of the things, I find that I’m connecting more with words that are sweet and simple. Less life-changing, more reminding. Less aha’s, more oh yeah’s. These are words that I know to be true, but their truth is often overlooked for words that have a bit of magic to them. For a person who doesn’t like to feel things, I really like words that make me feel things.

So I’d like to introduce a five-part series that will span over the next few weeks sharing these simple reminders that I keep going back to again and again. Each week, I’ll introduce one simple quote and tell you what I’m taking away from it.

Week One | “I guess I just haven’t learned that yet”

Photo: Shauna Niequist Instagram @sniequist

I saw this quote on Shauna Niequist’s Instagram and it hit me in a big way, reminding me that there’s so much I don’t know yet, leaving both gifts and vulnerabilities to be discovered. I have a really difficult time admitting to what I don’t know because I’m afraid to find out that I’m the only one who doesn’t know what I don’t know. We live in a world that’s waiting to ridicule and slap labels on humans for what they don’t know or have not yet learned or experienced yet. I can’t help but think about the world for what it could be if we all felt safe enough or maybe brave enough to step behind the curtain, raise our hand and say “I don’t know the answer to that” or “I don’t know how to do that.” I think a few more hands would go up. A world that’s safe to ask questions, a world that’s safe to be wrong or mistaken without being labeled as racist or ignorant, a world that encourages curiosity is a world with less judgment. A world with less judgment is a world with less hate.

That whole “fake it ’til you make it” thing that I’ve relied on for much too long has shielded me from vulnerability, but it’s also kept me from stepping out of my comfort zone. It’s kept trying new things. It’s kept me from asking questions. It’s kept me from the joy of discovering new gifts and meeting new people. I believe we were purposely created with a child-like curiosity that we were never meant to outgrow. But instead of honoring our curiosity, we’ve bought into the lie that knowing it all–or pretending to know it all–is a necessary path to safety. It’s why we tee up our questions with safety measures like “this is a stupid question, but…” or “I should know this, but…”

When we allow ourselves and each other to ask questions openly and honestly, we shift the narrative from shame and ignorance to opportunity and learning. And that’s how I want to move forward and that’s the door I want to leave wide open for the people in my life. The door leads to a space that says, yes, come in. All are welcome here. Come with your questions and confusions and curiosities. I don’t know much, but we’ll figure it out together.

Read Shauna Niequist’s full post here.