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.

Picking a Major - A Labor of Love

Last night I watched a program ("Gates & Buffet Go Back to School") in which Bill Gates and Warren Buffet held a Q&A session with students on the campus of the University of Nebraska. These are the two richest men in the world, with a combined net worth of over $110 billion dollars. They were asked a myriad of questions but one stuck in my mind as particularly relevant for students trying to figure out their major and what they want to do with their lives.

Gates and Buffet were asked how they measured success. Buffet said that one of the ways he measured success was by how he felt about what he was doing. He said that every day he wakes up and is excited about his life and work. Why? He loves what he does. He is driven by his passion. Gates, nodded in agreement, and spoke himself how he has the best job on earth. Both intimated that the money isn't what drives them. Rather, it is the passion to pursue their dreams and do what they love. I got the impression that even if they were poor, they would still be happy because they believe in and love what they do. Their wealth, then, is not of a material, but rather a spiritual nature. To drive home the point, both men have pledged to donate nearly all of their fortunes to help people throughout the world who are less fortunate than themselves.

How does this apply to the soon-to-be college student searching for a major? I think it is pretty obvious, however I cannot tell you the number of students who have told me that they want to major in something that makes them a lot of money. When I tell them fields with high earning potential, many of them are disheartened because those majors aren't interesting to them. I then start a new track in the conversation by asking what it is that they love. What interests them? What are they passionate about? Nearly every one of us has something that matters deeply to us. It is my conviction, as well as Gates' and Buffet's, that if you honor your passion and do what you love, the rewards, both material and spiritual, will follow.


Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
- Rumi (Translated by Coleman Barks)