Week One - Rilke

". . . have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. "
-Rainer Maria Rilke, from Letters to a Young Poet, Letter #4


I love Rainer Maria Rilke. Besides being a wonderful poet, he was a great man, which is evidenced by his letters to the young poet, Franz Kappus; his responses are particularly gentle, understanding, and open. I read "Letters to a Young Poet" while in a depression and was particularly touched by Letters 4 and 8. I felt that somehow Rilke reached across a century and a continent to help me understand that sadness and uncertainty are a beautiful part of life when you can take them for what they are and learn from them instead of being frustrated by them. While I have not experienced that depth of that terrible sadness since, I have faced great uncertainty and hardship and had to trust that the situations would turn out and I would be okay.

As I'm writing, I am going through another period of questioning. What do I really want to do with my life? How do I allow the good that is seeking me come through? Why do I deny myself so much? Will I ever have enough money? Should I take a second job or focus on my business and stay with my current (crappy) job? Will I succeed as a clothing designer? I could go on and on, but you can understand how overwhelming this line of thinking can be.

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday afternoon and she helped me realize that instead of focusing on the answers to those questions and creating a lot of doubt, just start with something. I don't know what whether I'll be a successful designer or how my life map out, but I know that if I can do what I'm passionate about, all of the other stuff will be resolved. So my intention (which I decided right now) is to really live those questions, take them on as a challenge, and leave the answers to themselves.

Have a beautiful New Year!

What questions are you willing to live today, this week, this year?


Here is a link to more information about Rainer Maria Wilke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke

There are two translations of "Letters to a Young Poet": M.D. Herter Norton and Stephen Mitchell.
Both are available at www.Amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com/
Stephen Mitchell's version is also on the web http://www.sfgoth.com/~immanis/rilke/letter1.html
*I'm a little partial to Mitchell's translation, but I also have Norton's.

The Genesis of this blog

In 2006, my dear friend Lilyane and I collected quotes that had touched or inspired us in our respective spiritual journeys. From that seed, and with encouragement from a beautiful and artistic friend, Pam, came the idea to put together a weekly collection that explores what the quotes/passages mean to me.

I intend for this blog to be welcoming, passionate, and fun. I also hope that you will discover something about yourself and/or the world and be inspired to be your highest self by participating as I hope to be by writing it.