The Wisdom of Insecurity

"It must be obvious...that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity." -Alan Watts

I would like to take credit for the title of this post, but I cannot do so in good conscience. The post title is taken from a book by Alan Watts, bearing the same name. In it, Watts proposes that there is wisdom in not being sure of what you want to do, or wisdom in being insecure in your belief system, as well as other seemingly strange (to our sensibilities) philosophical positions. Likewise, in this post, I want to propound on the wisdom of major insecurity.

Students hold the belief that they should have a good idea of what they want to do upon entering college. People don't do much to help them in believing that they should think otherwise. How often have you been asked, "What is your major?" That question will be something you continually get asked throughout your college career and even beyond. We hold a particularly strong preoccupation with the future. Once you graduate from college, you will be asked, "What are you going to do now?" Once you get a job, you will be asked, "When are you going to start a family?" The questions about the future never end.

I want to help stop this insanity and fixation on the future. It is perfectly normal to not have the foggiest idea of what your major will be or even what you want to do with your life. Because of our fixation on the future, however, we feel inadequate or somehow left out if we don't have a strong sense of what we want to study or do. Don't fall into this illusory trap. Use college as a time to explore. Explore your interests, friendships, and self. College can be a place where individual growth is pursued. Growth, in my estimation, is stunted when we limit ourselves to fixating on one end point. Allow time to explore. You never know what you'll discover in both the world around you and in yourself.