KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWING

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world."

Albert Einstein

ABC Wednesday’s prompt letter K for this week made me pick ‘Knowledge and Knowing’ to discourse upon. These two interesting K words aroused my curiosity to explore the two concepts and their semantics. This doesn’t however, mean that I’m going to philosophize and talk scholarly about less traveled realms. It is nothing of the kind. I simply wish to comprehend the difference between the usage of the two.

Knowledge to my mind is the huge database stored in our minds, gathered from books, internet searches, information received during formally educating ourselves, the information imparted through print, electronic media and ever-increasing other sources being developed in the modern technological world. Knowledge though vast is taken as finite and quantifiable.

However, knowing, as I understand is entirely different. It is an experience that is personal, subjective, and infinite.  Knowing has depth and is experienced like mindfulness. It is like waking meditation. It helps to unwind, to find joy and to promote uncommon mental upswings. It is not 2+2=4.  It is very private and without boundaries.

Here I take a simple example of my special bonding with a creature, who is endearing. Surprisingly I love squirrels and keep them in high regard. They are my all weather friends. Occasionally my rendezvous with them happens when I go for a walk in an adjacent park filled with trees, shrubs, flower patches etc. Soon after I enter the park and take a few steps, invariably, I encounter a pair of squirrels hopping and frolicking on the pavement in front of me. It seems as if they recognize me and take me as their admirer. Joyfully and teasingly, they lead me bouncing and stopping alternatively to match my speed. To tease them back I make a sudden jump towards them and Lo with lightning quickness, they make an effortless and lovingly graceful long jump onto the sturdy trunk of a Neem tree.

Their frolicking and romping spree continues as if to entertain me and attract my attention further. My focus narrows down to their antics. Totally, inspired I feel feathery light. I experience their experience. My observation parameters reach optimum levels and I feel a transient seeping in of energized otherworldliness. The baggage of cynicism sweeps away. A new me enthused to make my day the most productive one emerges. The peak of gladness in the sun-filled ambiance rubs in on me. I come back refreshed, relaxed and eager to go. Such moments I think are knowing moments.

This perhaps is knowing, something very distinct from knowledge and very original.

Friends pl. share your perspective on  it! 

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ABC Wednesday
Nature Notes

                                        

SQUIRRELS ARE MY DEAR FRIENDS

  


'S' is for 'squirrels'  

Yes, they are not simply my friends but worthy ones at that. In fact, about them, I can say ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed.’ Here, I must tell you that it is not that my liking for them has sprung out of the blue. It is decades old and thrived all along. The difference is: now I’ve started communicating the soft corner I nurture for them, in words as well as by imprisoning them in my camera, with tons of patience. They are so vivacious and ardent in their sprints that a single good shot is a filtered one from among many discards. I've written  a couple of eulogies on them since I started blogging.

Just see, how beautiful it looks gliding down the 'Neem' tree across our boundary wall. The furry grey tail, the clear brown and white stripes on the back, tiny eyes and aquiline nose turn it into a designer’s delight.  It is a marvel of nature, the way it infects you with the joyous liveliness of its bearing. It is apparently impossible to articulate its nimbleness and carefree persona.

Sometimes in the park, on a breezy, bright and sunny morning, I encounter them gamboling on the sidewalk and note their prompt jumps on the nearby trees, as my footfalls caution them. I keep watching their amusing and spirited capers in front of me. How they mesmerize with their ferocious mobility, which make them so distinctive and lovable creatures.

They do make me ponder about our loaded lives, beset with existential dilemmas. In addition, the compounding tensions of our daily lives compares poorly with their boundless vitality and goodness.This special gift of nature enlivens our environs by its uninhibited motion and enviable freedom. A quarter of an hour spent in their blissful company during my walk in the park, sets a melange of positive vibes for the whole day.

 Friends,welcome here as always!                                       

Linking to: ABC Wednesday, Saturday Critters