Esais

Esais, the root word of essays. It means to try. A single word can be a philosophy of life. To try is how one starts the divergence-convergence spectrum that leads to purpose (purpose is a convergence tool). In trying there is very little planning done, because trying is part of the planning, or perhaps the pre-plan. You try before you plan a strategy. Because there is not much planning done in trying, you rely on your intuition. Is this interesting? Try it. Does this feel right? Keep it. It is decision-making based on real life feedback. This is how Roman Krznaric approaches finding a work you love. Michel de Montaigne used this principle to approach writing and he created, within a mumbo-jumbo of words, an art form that is intensely personal—an art form that helped him learn more about himself.

To try means to be surprised. Since there is not much thinking done before trying, you will inevitably be more surprised. When you use the principle of esais in your life, your life will be full of surprises.

I have personally experienced this. I arrived in editing as a surprise. I arrive to Lea as a surprise. I discovered the people I love online—my distant digital mentors as a surprise. Of course, given the knowledge I know about myself, I later realized that these things that arrived in my life were really the right things. But at that time, it was unexpected.

Interestingly, the word esais sounds a lot lake esaës in Pangasinan, which means “whisper.”