“In a field
I am the absence
of field.”
~ Mark Strand, Keeping Things Whole, Reasons for Moving…
A question is like an empty space. We ask. We wait. We wonder. We make room.
We stop resisting.
In the process, by creating a nothing with a curling, spiraling question mark at its heart, we fall open.
We become a vessel, ready. We rest.
And, eventually, in the hollowed, complete stillness, we become the water, pouring down. We fall. We fill.
To question without stillness is like trying to push water, like dumb effort.
Instead, wait. Dive into a love affair with empty space.
Craft questions so beautiful they captivate the universe. Then wait. And live. And wait.
“What is the name of the month
that falls between December and January?”
“Does he who is always waiting suffer more
than he who’s never waited for anyone?”
“Did autumn’s hairdressers
uncomb these chrysanthemums?
~ Pablo Neruda, The Book of Questions
Flickr photo: green stairs, by extranoise.
Related reading: Love’s Slope, Secret Spaces
4 Comments
I’m in that hallway between the old room and the new. And for the first time in my life, I am content to wait, to flow with the river, to watch the turn of the day, to wait.
In some pagan ways, there is a (maybe even “the”) major holiday between Lammas (1st harvest feast, August 1) and the Autumn Equinox that has no name, no specific date, but it is the holy turning of the year occuring in darkness and silence.
Sometimes I feel like that’s where I am now.
Jo, your comment made me take a big, deep breath without even thinking about it. It sounds like you’re in a good space and you know it.
Dear Grace:
I love how you described a question mark as “curling and spiraling.” It reminded me of concepts that I have read about spiral dynamics in groups and other places and thus opened the door to embracing questions with an added awe. Thank you.
Dear Jo:
Wow-what a neat way to express being between the old room and the new. Very inspiring. Thank you, too.
Yes! Spiral dynamics have repeatedly saved me from lasping into a coma of self-disregard, by reminding me that although I may still be working on an issue I’ve tackled before, at least I’m working at it from a higher spot on the spiral.
Progress, not perfection, right?
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[…] reading: Pep Talk | Zero In, Living with Questions This was written by Grace Kerina. Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, at 12:15 am. Filed under Pep […]