One of the themes that I’m trying to cultivate more of in my own life is Rilke’s suggestion to “live the questions.” In other words, how can I come from a place of curiosity in order to discover and learn?
The alternative would be to not be curious, which means accepting things as they are (rather than questioning them) and being dogmatic (rather than being open to having my mind changed. In many ways, “living the questions” is more challenging than “accepting things as they are” because it means that I might not know or I might be wrong about what I do know.
There are many approaches to discovery and learning. We can read books, watch documentaries, research online, or listen to others share what they’ve learned. My favorite approach is by doing, so that I can get the firsthand experience of having done that thing that I’m exploring. To me it’s difference between watching a movie on Bruce Lee and actually training in his martial art in a dojo. The former is informative; the latter is transformative.
As Gandalf says to Bilbo in The Hobbit: “The world is not in your books and maps. It’s out there.”
Kindly,
David