There are smart people everywhere. But belief in their own intelligence becomes a bullet in the foot. Ideas that seem right and make you feel smart colagulate over time into a thick glug that oozes through your brain. Metaphorically.

The goo hardens and the ideas form an ego-identity, a hard, inflexible substance void of originality and excreting ideas. The ego-identity reacts when threatened, causing the carrier to defend it. These emotional reactions might not be enough to make the carrier a sociopath, but it would be enough to retard their brilliance, because thoughts are curated to serve the identity.

We’re all carriers. We all suffer the suffocation of our natural brilliance.

So what is that brilliance?

I’m not sure, but it’s in our nature. Unlike the title of this post, it’s a gentle brilliance.

It doesn’t matter how ‘smart’ you or others think you are. If you’re human you’re pretty clever. We’ve got something to work with, at least.

You can keep your natural spontaneous brilliance by not holding onto facts or opinions too seriously.

Don’t invest your emotional energy in creating and defending ideas that really mean nothing to you. Don’t give them names and care for them like pets.

Think what you want. Believe what you want. For a day. When you wake up, believe in nothing except what’s in your head before the cogs even start turning for the day, before you drink coffee, watch TV, read news or think a serious thought.

Everthying is bullshit.

You need less information, not more.

Sure, you can’t ever objectively tell what is true or fact. But that’s not what I mean. Everything is actually wrong, incorrect. Everything is someone’s opinion, or regurgitated science, or a slant on events, or a mix. Once verbalised, defined, remembered, understood, it’s not what it is.

Even accepted truths are wrong.

It’s not like ‘oh I know I should be open minded so I’ll put those things I know are correct and that make me better & different aside for the moment.’ Not at all.

I’m not sure how you get to know that everything is bullshit. Meditation has helped for me, but also there’s a long process of going through stages where you think you know this or that and have to experience the tragic results. That’s me.

Once you’re there you can play the game without getting emotionally invested. Take it all at face value.

In stillness the grass will grow – it’s my favourite zen-type phrase.

You are now free of facts. Know what you need to know to do what you need to. Create the mental stillness for your natural brilliance to grow.

Beginner’s mind, all the time. Politics, religion, scientific understanding, who is good who is bad, all stale knowledge that clogs our brain like cholesterol in our heart, it clears. It’s like veganism for the mind.

You are completely fucking brilliant.