ignorance is bliss...

I never really used to like the expression “Ignorance is Bliss”. It always seemed like a cop out to me…a reason to stay oblivious to the world around you. I’ve always been a fairly pro-active person; in matters of health, education, international affairs. I like to do my homework, know what I’m getting into and move forward with all the facts in front of me. I’ll be the first to admit that this has caused the odd tumultuous relationship between Google and I, but for the most part…we’re friends! I guess you could say that I’ve always been a big supporter of the after school public service announcements that teach “The More You Know!”

I did learn this weekend however, that ignorance does have its place and that without it, so many of the lessons that get us through life would never happen.

Take Saturday for example; it was a perfectly delightful and sunny day when I was awoken with a Starbucks in bed from my husband! The air was cool, the sky was bright and I was about to spend the entire day shooting Caroline and Brent’s wedding out in Bourget at her parent’s property. For all intents and purposes, it was a perfect reason to smile and get out of bed with tons of enthusiasm at the day ahead. However, had I known then that I would end up spending a good chunk of that night stranded on a deserted country dirt road in the middle of nowhere…then I might have changed my mind! Had I known that my car just wouldn’t start again after pulling over to check directions as a thick and intense fog rolled over the country…then I might have just stayed buried under the covers! Had I known that I was going to find myself wandering aimlessly in the dark while believing that I was going to play the starring role in the next episode of Criminal Minds…then I might have just opted to stick with my day job instead of braving this new venture!

So ignorance was clearly created for a reason and I’ve just never given it enough credit up until now! Without it, we would likely never try something new and brave through the elements. Ignorance keeps us sheltered from being scared off by how many times we’re going to fail before we succeed; it protects us from running for the hills because we’d already know the errors in judgment that we’re about the make. And as miserable as it is to endure failing, or panicking, or having your heart broken, or being stranded in the middle of the night…it is also necessary. It’s necessary to fail sometimes in order to succeed; it’s necessary to panic sometimes in order to problem solve; it’s necessary to watch a relationship fall apart sometimes so you can know how to put it back together again; and it’s necessary to walk the dark country roads of a Stephen King novel sometimes in order to learn why you should invest in a cell phone…