In today’s Conscious Living exercise, Gay Hendricks asks “What are you pretending to know?” An odd question, so let’s unpack it.

When you believe you know something, you stop inquiring into the subject. As a child, once you learned how to tie your shoes, you didn’t need to ask about it anymore. Eventually, you became able to do it without thinking.

This concept also follows us in ways we may not consider. You might believe you know everything about a certain subject or about yourself. A bigot might “know” that a certain kind of person is inferior or of bad character, and therefore never inquire if they might be wrong.

For today’s exercise, consider what you know about your creativity. Are you certain that you only write in a specific genre? Do you know that you’re not also a poet or playwright? Do you know that you’ll never make money with your creative writing? Or are you pretending to know these things?

In the context of your writing, ask what your character knows that may not be the truth or the entire truth. What would happen if they start inquiring into areas they have previously been certain about?