Opening Pandora’s Box with Time Traveling

It’s all Greek to me

NEWS BREAK: Today is a day to mark in your calendar of life-changing events! Time travel for everyone!

Not just those that have traveled “Back to the Future” with Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly and more advanced modes of Beso’s converted Bentley, which recently went to the moon. No, this is the real deal. All it costs is an in-depth answer to the question, “What would you do with your time machine?”

My first mission with my travel machine would be to go back in time to sit with Socrates. The man that brought me words to live by such as “Wisdom begins in wonder,” “An unexamined life is not worth living,” and “Know Thyself.”

Socrates was a teacher and left a legacy. How he taught became known as the Socratic Method. Asking questions, often hard questions, to dig deep until the contradictions revealed themselves. He encouraged his followers always to question what they were told and to look beyond the obvious. The reason why I would travel back to sit with him is that he recorded nothing. His words, the legacy left, were shared by his students, such as Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, and Xenophon-to name a few. I would love to have his teachings from his questioning and wisdom.

But, as that being my first mission of questioning deeper, I would immediately think of the 1st woman in Greek mythology — Pandora. Her name, in Greek, means all gifts.

Pandora and her box is another legacy. As the story goes, our choices, often made without thinking, can cause so many unforeseen problems. Our human will of curiosity can lead to unconscious actions that are irreversible.

One thing left inside Pandora’s box was hope. It is more our hopes and dreams that keep the wonderment alive. Innovation and creativity come from our quest to solve problems. If we can time travel, our curiosity might spoil things for us, both past and present. We would stop our internal motivation to dig deeper if we already have the answers — it sounds kind of boring to me.

The adventure in the wonders of life and getting to know thyself is the wisdom path I enjoy. Enduring with the pitfalls of humanity that Pandora released out of the magic box fuel that fans the flames of hope. The hope of better days, wiser choices, and genuinely knowing thyself.

Socrates’s primary belief was that our true self is not identified by what we own; our status, reputation, race, or body type define us. Our true self is our soul; if I have all the answers from time traveling, the soul would have no purpose.

I believe if I had all the answers shown to me, my soul would be empty of no hope or dreams. I think I will hold on to all my gifts of wonder.

With that in mind, I think I will pass on time traveling and stay in this moment. I’m enjoying the ride.

Thank you Simão Cunha for the prompt and the opportunity to dig a little deeper. Being part of this group of others within Know Thyself, Heal Thyself keeps me learning by a Socratic Method that feeds my soul! Deepest gratitude for all the others on this path.