The Knowledge Thief
May 24, 2021
Okay, let’s be honest. I don’t know that I would call it “stealing.” More like learning without buying the book. But would you pay $50 for the five pages of a 784-page book that you were actually going to use? Besides, I was stranded for two hours. So, a glass of very berry hibiscus later, I had gleaned the knowledge I needed. And taken digital “notes” about the key points that I wanted to remember later. And a brick and mortar had received my patronage and continued loyalty.
After all, isn’t all learning a form of thievery? We spend years in school, “embezzling” the thoughts, knowledge, and experience of our teachers, who have, in turn, taken that knowledge from those before them. We watch a documentary and “purloin” previously unknown knowledge from the hard work of others. We look things up online all the time, “taking” that information from the authors of those pages, making the entire world cyber criminals. I “steal” smidgets of the Korean language by watching K-Dramas and listening to K-pop. Even overhearing a snippet of conversation that was not meant for your ears can equate to a covert “heist” of knowledge. And the reward for this filching? A hoard of knowledge that we can later pick through and discover the gems.
As we grow and experience life, we never know when those gems will be used. Or in what order we may string them together to form the jewelry of our own lives. We never know — as parents, teachers, mentors, friends – what parts of our string of knowledge someone else might find important. And what “gem” they may steal from us. So keep your experiences polished, keep your learning faceted and sharp. Live, love, feel, learn. And steal all the knowledge you can.
Deana Rose Wilson 