A health condition caused Laura Gabayan, a physician and researcher, to seek out those who had a recognizable depth to their approach toward life — those she considered wise. She was looking for something that would help her find the meaning of her life. Knowing medicine was accustomed to “labeling and diagnosing the known and did not entertain the unknown,” Gabyan wanted to seek out “those with wisdom that could think outside the box.”
As a trained researcher, though, she was interested in how to scientifically define what actually makes someone wise. She embarked on her Wisdom Research Project, interviewing 60 individuals that others recommended for their wise traits. They spanned across industries, cultures, and socio-economic groups. For example, one was a concentration camp survivor, another was CEO of five companies, one was a librarian, and another was a widow two times over.
What emerged were eight components of which a majority of her interviewees had at least five. These are resilience, kindness, positivity, spirituality, humility, tolerance, creativity, and curiosity. What’s more, Gabayan asserts that individuals can learn to master them and become wiser themselves.
She devotes a chapter to each of the elements, sharing anedotes about how the quality presented in her interviewees, and offering tips on how to better embrace them in our own lives. For example, with resilience, we can teach ourselves to look at the bigger picture when things go wrong and discern the lessons our hardships can teach us. Or with positivity, Gabayan encourages us to make pursuing joy a priority. Her tips include abandoning thoughts that waste energy on things we can’t change or that bring us down.
Common Wisdom offers a sharp contrast to what our society often deems “wise.” We now are able to know through her Wisdom Project research that wisdom isn’t related to accomplishments or wealth, but is a mindset that comes from humbly and curiously looking to uncover meaning and depth in life.
Learn more at www.lauragabayan.com.
Garth Thomas