To become a London cabbie, one must complete a ‘topographical assessment for private hire drivers’ - otherwise known as ‘The Knowledge’. The guide for this is the ‘Blue Book’. Studying a book to gain insight struck me as a spiritual or religious endeavour, and when I read the Blue Book itself I found some really useful insights into life. For example:
IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST FROM THE OUTSET
YOU NEED TO CONSIDER VERY CAREFULLY WHETHER YOU ARE ABLE TO COMMIT
IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER, SAY SO
One quote especially stood out to me as very wise - and so here’s a poem in response.
Acquiring Knowledge
“You will not acquire sufficient knowledge simply by studying a map.There is no substitute for travelling the routes.”
It reads like some ancient insight written by gurus long ago deceptively simply wisdom travelled through timeand now snappily turned into an Instagrammable quotethe kind of words that make all the sense but ones too many us don’t take into our hearts.
“You will not acquire sufficient knowledge simply by studying a map.There is no substitute for travelling the routes.”
I’ve been searching for this deep understanding my whole lifelittle realising that this sublime realisation –like all divine visions –was to found in an unlikely place:The Knowledge of Londonor, The Blue Book.
“You will not acquire sufficient knowledge simply by studying a map.There is no substitute for travelling the routes.”
For too long I lived in my headmapping out experience in theory and thought:paths of least resistance through networks conversation branches a videogame dialogue career a series of best-choice arrows and optimisation desire an equation of what I assessed as possibleand as the problems stacked up I convinced myself that I could argue my way out of anything if only I had more data to understand the direction I should travel.
I lived in two dimensions: logic and rationalityas if the map was the terrain.
I forgot that my body is a pathfinder: that my feet hold the truth of my way through the world my eyes can decide when to march and when to wander that I can hear excitement on the vibration of air that taste is an instinctive insight into joyand there’s the scent of quickened heartbeats in encountering someone new.
I still study the cartography of life but now I walk the routes welcoming it all.
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