The author celebrates Pessoa's naked commitment to writing without seeking perfection or publication. After fifty years of eclectic reading, they experienced a decade-long creative drought until discovering "The Book of Disquiet" during the pandemic. They draw parallels between Pessoa's fragmentary masterpiece and Humphrey Jennings' "Pandaemonium"—both posthumously assembled collections that defy categorization. Pessoa became their long-sought gateway, inspiring their next creative departure.

The author, a twenty-year architectural consultant, professionally banishes uncertainty for clients who pay to eliminate risk. This Sisyphean labor involves staying one or two steps ahead, managing indeterminacy for profit. However, in personal creative time, they embrace the opposite approach—taking up residence in uncertainty. Free from financial pressures, they abandon professional tools designed to control risk, surrendering to panoramic ignorance and trying to "unknow" rather than solve problems.