Life’s a Curious Project
Life’s a curious project —Full with pitfall and promise either of which is pointer rather than guarantee.
Naturally occurring in every human —Curiosity, the wonder for that not yet explored. Newborns attune to unfamiliar surroundings, infants crawl about toward dangerous and miraculous things. The teenager experiments and the adult often seek new discoveries and destinations.
Out of our expansion and exploration comes chance meetings, synchronicity and connection with new people, places, or things that many times bring us new ideas.
As much as we “know” about our lives, there’s perhaps so much more we don’t. For example I know my grandparents came from the Azores Islands, Portugal yet I know little of the life they lived there or their parents and grandparents experiences.
Our histories are often quite clouded, shrouded in the mystery of life. Life is vast and complex, descriptive words validated by our own star gazing, trips in awe through the Grand Canyon, or by contemplation of the depths of the Challenger Deep western Pacific Ocean.
We simply can’t explain this mystery we are all part of. Yet, we have the power in our thought process to ask questions of our mysterious world.
Our part provides a bigger picture though safely said, not the whole picture. We bring our pieces and parts to the table in conversation and writing, as artist, activist and board member alike, as each generation does and that —Is how we teach and transform. We inch forward toward reaching our full potential as individuals and as a united humanity —A humanity that today lives half in hope, half seemingly in rhetorically induced fear.
I wrote a poem in 1992 called The Fragile Thread. The sentiment is intended to say life is both fragile and strong, it changes in an instant —Asking of us to savor its goodness and respect its fragility. There is power in each. The poem cultivates the curiosity of this existence.
THE FRAGILE THREAD
The scent of sage
sweet and cleansing
reminds me of the sacred
and of the ancient
In a room, I sit, feeling
lightly woven with
the threads of time
How tender and fragile
are the strings of memory,
pale and overlooking the world
The universe floods with truth and
still the fragile threads of time
lightly woven,
yet, stand
Making sense out of our individual pasts and our collective paths help us to participate and build a sustainable future together.
The pandemic did change us. It changed the world in ways we’ve yet come to understand. Much of the time now things are not as they seem. What we used to trust and believe has been challenged in ways that leave us feeling more isolated it seems. But that is not reason to lose hope.
I say in my book Teach Love “We can’t always appreciate our current situation, but we can become the observer in our life by consciously breathing.” It is meant that in slowing down, whatever that means to you, helps secure and stabilize us. For you that may be a walk in the woods, for others it’s cooking, or for some people finding peace in mediation, while many others reach their center at the gym or in yoga class. These are tools.
These are tools that help keep us regulated internally. We shouldn’t be negligent in acknowledging them.
It doesn’t mean we don’t speak out, we should speak out —Often. Though equally, if possible —We should reflect within.
External words shape our views, internal conversations combined with external civil dialogue clarify them. We hear many words today. Competition, Artificial Intelligence, corruption, cybersecurity, weaponization, polarization, politicalization, socialism, immigration, crisis, climate, crimes —All useful and meaningful in context to their situation to describe events, but they are not efficient or effective in accomplishing our goals.
Life is a curious project. We must ask. How can I help?