“Remembering is merely safeguarding something entrusted to the memory; knowing , however, means making everything your own; it means not depending on the copy and not all the time glancing back at the master.” – Seneca

If we pick any profession, any skill, anything worth doing can be memorized. But there is more to mastering a skill than memorizing the steps.

Anyone can learn to play the guitar. If a person dedicated themselves to it, they could probably memorize the entire collection of songs by Jimi Hendrix. Play every note the same, right down to the bend in the guitar strings. But that doesn’t make them an artist. They become an artist when they make something of their own.

The same is true of anything that requires knowledge. Anyone could, if they were so determined, memorize the code of the first Pac Man game and code it out. But it doesn’t become an accomplishment until they make it their own.

The same is true of the path we are on. We could memorize the words, we could recite them in fitting situations, and we could even apply them to our own lives accordingly. But until we find a way to make this life our own we won’t feel the contentment that comes with learning to live according to the words we have memorized. Until we find and travel our own path it will all just be someone else’s work.

Let’s make our own way.

virtus fortis vocat