Inconsistency has its place
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson“The only completely consistent people are dead.”
—Aldous Huxley
I’m reading The Unconquerable World by Jonathan Schell. His chapter on Gandhi set me thinking.
I’m constrained in my writing by trying to be utterly consistent across time. Ack, what if I write something today that contradicts something I wrote last year? But in fact my thinking is constantly evolving in response to reading, discussion, observation, prayer, contemplation — and so my writing should be evolving, too.
Schell shows very clearly the evolution of Gandhi’s thinking in his writings — from gung-ho apologist for the British Empire to the Hind Swaraj (or Sermon on the Sea) in which [Gandhi] furiously “portrayed the civilization of England and her empire as an unmitigated evil,” to advocate of satyagraha (“soul force”) nonviolence that won India’s independence from England. Do we remember Gandhi as inconsistent? Or do we remember him as someone committed to growing in wisdom and taking action accordingly?
There’s a useful lesson here, I think —
It’s important to think clearly/write clearly/act accordingly now — don’t wait for that state of profound enlightenment that’s surely just around the corner :-) — because today’s insights/clues/actions might be just what someone else, someone facing a similar struggle, is looking for.
Meanwhile, keep reading, learning, growing, becoming wiser. Keep climbing the spiral staircase.
Then as each future “now” gets here, welcomed with the same advice — think clearly/write clearly/act accordingly now — it’ll be the same staircase, but a different floor — complete with different others looking for and sharing different insights/clues/actions.
Maybe “being utterly consistent across time” is my fancy-sounding euphemism for staying stuck. No more.
Of course, some consistencies are worth cultivating — one’s steadfastness endures, one’s framework of integrity endures (IOW, one’s internal congruence endures) — but the content flowing through (as visible in one’s writing) is free to change in response to ongoing education, revelation, and inbreaking wisdom.
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