The Fool’s Guide To Following Your Own Path: Standing On Your Personal Truth
This article stands as a testament to understanding one’s self, based on information gathered through personal experience, traditional tarot card meanings, and archetypal studies.
All Hail, The Fool
Every person knows of at least one individual who embodies the characteristics of “the fool”. This person is typically a person who is seen to be very foolish in their decision-making, holds an “act before thinking” mentality and may appear to be immature or naive. Although the modern conceptualization of being a fool is not viewed as very positive or inspiring, join me in exploring the positive aspects of the word and expanding on that idea.
By keeping an open mind, one may realize that having a “foolish” quality about oneself or even observing this quality in others, can broaden the perspective on the more commonly known, negative connotations of the word. Please allow me to introduce a more enlightened understanding of the word into your vernacular and bring it into the realms of encouragement and compassion.
It is, by all means, a great feat to embody the archetype of the fool as this persona will always pursue its truest desires despite the extraordinary amount of difficulty in doing so. In this way, the fool can be observed as a hero of sorts, who provides others with a commonly overlooked view of what it takes to gather such refined courage. This somewhat strange interpretation of the fool as a motivational figure stems from the seemingly unwise, yet critical, decision made by the typical fool to act solely on their desires. This is an essential characteristic to keep in mind as we hoist the fool into the limelight it deserves.
The fool’s journey ends where it begins. Following this path, he is a fool no longer.
The decision to commit oneself to their truest desire(s) is a path most people dare not to tread. In today’s society, security, comfort, and assurance are usually clung to very tightly by the masses. In a sense, these qualities are absolutely vital to a life well lived for countless reasons. Although these ideals are held in high regard and are proven to provide a sense of happiness for most people — the average fool will usually have an alternative perspective of what is necessary in his own experience of life.
Through countless observations and “chances given”, the fool eventually determines that his options are limited in regard to what he is “allowed” to pursue in the midst of the common collective. He often feels as though he can not express his particular form of individuality in the grand schema of the environment that surrounds him. This feeling of not fitting in, and the inability to comfortably be himself compels the fool to make seemingly radical decisions. Due to his inner and outer conditions, his range of choices is slim. His choices are to either settle into the common way of life which has filled him with resentment or to abandon the known order of things and renew his individual expression of self in order to feel “normal” in his own skin. To the fool’s understanding, there is only one credible option; he must leave the status quo behind him and contemplate his future endeavors in a way that is suitable for his own beliefs and ways of being. As he willfully convinces and devotes himself to what initially seems like an unfamiliar way of life, the fool is initiated into the process of self-revival and renewal; which is essentially the hardest part of his journey. Despite the difficulty it entails, the fool dedicates himself to the path of self-fulfillment and haphazardly completes the crucial first step in the attainment of personal peace and happiness.
He learns to be more comfortable with his own decisions and accepts the fact that most others will decide against embarking on this journey of utter personal fulfillment for their own reasons. He comes to realize that this journey entails many implications of discomfort for the average person due to its unforeseeable qualities and the “nothing is promised” approach that is required, and simply continues on this path anyway.
In his new-found realizations, he now knows that one’s own personal qualms, fears, and the idea of sacrificing that which is known to bring a sense of contentment for all is only an unfortunate series of events with no foreseeable benefits to most people; but this does not infiltrate the fool’s determination, as he has made up his mind to abandon these fears long ago.
Those who have witnessed him make this arguably “foolish” decision to leave the ideals of their hive mind behind, now deem him as one whose naivety will inevitably lead to his demise. From the very beginning of his journey though, the fool has realized that his own decisive actions have enabled many possibilities and opportunities to manifest directly before his eyes.
As he traverses the seemingly lonely path to personal peace, he holds the awareness that anything can happen at any given moment. Whether it is good, or bad, he now has access to all possible potentials of occurrences that the members of his old society will never get the chance to experience — but he is no longer limited by his past in that way. The fool has now adopted an ever-expansive outlook that does wonders for his perspective on life and furthers his development as a fully capable and versatile individual.
Dwelling in a mindset of abundance, he realizes its value instantaneously. It has become his reality for the rest of his foreseeable future. Any and every cycle of indecisiveness, fear, doubt, anxiety, and nervousness have all been exchanged for exploration, enthusiasm, personal assurance, passion, inspiration, and determination.
Having instilled these ways of thinking into his psyche, the renewed fool intends to harness their advantages going forward. He no longer feels naive; nor does he feel a responsibility to participate in the old ideals he once held. Everything is full of newness for him, which excites him to no end. He, who was considered to be an absurd and foolish individual, is now keenly aware that he only appears to be so in the eyes of those who have not yet settled their own internal discrepancies and have ultimately chosen to settle for things that provide them with the idea of comfort by disregarding their passions and abandoning a sense of purpose, all in order to comfortably accept their dis-eased inner-environments. They have convinced themselves out of the inheritance of their own greatness and the vital essence of their own soul. So who, really, is the “fool” now?
The one adorned with pity now wears his perceived “foolishness” as a badge of honor and is now his own personal role model. He begins to regard himself as “THE fool” as he recalls the heroic deeds he has committed such as: facing the evils of self-doubt and stagnancy, embarking on a perilous journey into the unknown with great success, saving his own inner being from turmoil, and rekindling his inner fire which is now set ablaze. He is inspired and is simultaneously the source of his own inspiration — alas, he is still underqualified for this type of success in the minds of those from his past, who had expected him to never achieve it in the first place.
You Do, or You Don’t.
As with all things in life, there are both positive and negative aspects attributed to the fool archetype. By focusing predominantly on the positive aspects, the negative qualities, suggestively, can be observed as not embarking on this journey of self-realization and rejecting all opportunities to do so. Being ignorant or oblivious to one’s own desires, as well as being unable to withstand discomfort in the wake of one’s own potential — will essentially halt all personal growth available to any individual wanting to embody the wisdom of “the fool”.
The most noteworthy difference between these two polarities revolves around an individual’s initiative or lack thereof. Clear-headedness about any decision is paramount in making it. If indecision becomes the prevalent energy in the dynamic between a person and their goal(s), it will invoke stagnancy, FOMO, and an inability to expand oneself into what is considered to be personal fulfillment. The fool must remain open-minded, courageous, adventurous, adaptable, passionate, and excited about discovering the vitality that can be found in new experiences.
The fool must be willing and able to take the unforetold road in order to maintain his enthusiasm about life’s unseen opportunities. He jumps ferociously into action and is comfortable with taking risks. Embracing all of life’s lessons, the fool does not falter to a lack of understanding and is enthusiastic about what is possible through the means of his own actions and choices; because if he is not, he will never achieve the success he’s seeking. The fool must explore all that the world has to offer in relation to the attainment of his desires in order to receive it.
It is important to remember that regardless of the polarity or specific orientation of the fool, it is always deemed as a badge of honor by those who embody its qualities; for better or for worse.
Every once in a while, take some time out to consider how being “foolish”, can benefit your mind, body, and spirit. Recognize the classification of “the fool” as one in which an individual can prove their excellence by paving their own path in and through life. Allow the negative implications of the word to slide off of your psyche, and focus only on your personal perspective of what it is that you want to pursue and truly desire. Learn to distance yourself from the ideals that simply do not align with your own and set out on the fool’s path toward personal fulfillment.
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