One thing I loved to do as an English teacher and professor that annoyed my students was give them the homework assignment of posing questions about a text they read. In my own educational experiences, I noticed the general priority on forming conclusions, proving a thesis, or getting the correct answer. Rarely did educational instructions invite students to deeper exploration and curiosity.

I suspect I became a fan of questions after reading Rainer Maria Rilke. Once inspired by a scene in Sister Act 2 where Whoopi Goldberg’s character tells Lauryn Hill’s character about Rilke’s book Letters to a Young Poet, I purchased the book after winning a cash award to buy books as an undergraduate English major at Mississippi State.

In Rilke’s words:

I’ve cited this quote numerous times as a professor. But before that, the quote spoke to me as a thread I could follow in my personal journey. I didn’t have to have everything all figured out. And perhaps this is partially why I’ve been okay with a wandering kind of life. The seemingly chaotic trajectory of my life is perhaps my way of “living the questions now” or “living into the answers” rather than trying to enforce or impose preconceived doctrine onto my world.

I can see why my questions homework annoyed my students. Most humans don’t do well with uncertainty. It’s not just the unmoored feeling of uncertainty and mystery that frightens us.

We’re also afraid to be perceived as being uncertain, as not knowing, as not having the answers. The social pressure to not put yourself out there until you and everything you’re doing is “perfect” can feel really intense, and it keeps so many of us silent and stuck and alienated from our destiny.

Enter: 3i/Atlas.

The comet, 3i/Atlas, is an unusual, massive, ancient visitor speeding through our solar system from who knows where. While scientists can’t determine where it does come from, they know it’s not from around here.

As an English major with a creative writing MFA, I have to cite the classic story archetype: A Stranger Comes to Town…

The best discussion of 3i/Atlas I’ve come across so far is by Brian Cox. In this video he says:

He describes 3i/Atlas, our 3rd recorded interstellar object, with terms like: “strange… weird… odd… doesn’t quite fit into either category… it’s somewhere in between… doesn’t behave the usual way… off… unclear… subtle… not typical… it wasn’t what we’re used to seeing, and that’s why it caused a stir, because it didn’t fit.”

And he says again:

Okay, I can’t keep quoting Brian Cox. Instead, I’ll do my Gemini thing of combining two things: the sciences and the humanities. Here’s what the discovery of these comets has inspired me to ask about us as humans:

What’s behind our fear or aversion to what’s new or different? When presented with data that challenges or disrupts our current beliefs, can we choose courage and curiosity instead of violence or denial? This is not to say we always have to drastically change our beliefs, but maybe we refine them, adjust them, evolve them, or at least open to the possibility that they could change in light of new information.

What might already be present in us, in our lives, in our world that our previous tools and frameworks just didn’t allow us to see or observe before? Even though interstellar objects probably passed through our solar system before, it’s only in recent years that we’ve had the technological capacity to see them! And on an individual level? What might a new tool or a new framework open your eyes or open your mind to that you couldn’t recognize about yourself or your life before now?

In what ways might our own weirdness, uniqueness, strangeness, not-fitting-in-ness, be important to our individual destinies and to the evolution of our collective consciousness? And how can I practice more and more courage to live in my own questions of being and becoming? How can I release the compulsion to fit and instead allow myself to just be. And allow others to do the same!

Pluto is in Aquarius, Loves. And Uranus is transitioning into Gemini. And next year Neptune and Saturn will meet at the zero point of the entire zodiac. These aren’t just once-in-a-lifetime events. Neptune and Saturn together at zero degrees of Aries is a once in known history event. And all three of these transits happening at the same time is…

Well, It’s time to embrace disruption and evolution. It’s time for another one of those quantum leaps.

Last week’s post inspired me to host a live webinar about what it takes to explore spirituality and metaphysics beyond the socially approved religious institutions. I know there are others out there who have been timid and shy about expressing your curiosity, interest, or even passion for what others dismiss as “too woo woo.”

The Soul Café live session is meant to provide a safe space to feel curious and interested in the spectrum of such tools and practices. It’s meant to make the timidly curious or the shyly interested feel seen and not so alone in wanting to explore broader spiritual horizons, tools, and concepts.

I’m not hosting this to proselytize for any specific practice or path. But I do want to hold space for people who are already interested in spiritual exploration but feel they lack connections with others like them who are also open, curious, and interested.

If you are curious, there’s a Small, Medium, and Large option (it is a café after all 😉) depending on how much content you want from me. You can learn more and register here!

NYC Marathon Update:

Unfortunately, I will not be running in the New York Marathon this year. I’ve been sitting on this news for about two months now because I was just too disappointed and my ego was too wounded to open up about it. I sustained an injury at the end of August that made it unsafe for me to attempt 26.2 miles just two months later. It took 3-4 weeks before I could walk for 30 minutes without pain. So out of respect for the longevity of my body, I am allowing it to rest and recover with no pressure to perform.

Because you all were rooting for me and cheering me on, and because several of you donated to my St. Jude fundraising efforts, I had to share this update, however uncomfortable it is for me to admit. Thank you, with the deepest gratitude for your support. I trust that if a marathon is in the cards for me, it will be the right one at the right time. I thoroughly enjoyed every mile I ran during the time that I was able to train, so no regrets.

Since I shared last week how I used to talk to trees, I’m featuring a poem I wrote several years ago about that childhood relationship with nature. Enjoy and be inspired to reflect on the ways you have marveled at the natural world at any age!

I confess
I once talked with trees.

I recognized their names
carved in the bends of their branches.
They giggled at my musings and whispered back
how they loved me

Just as I was.

It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken,
since I felt the warmth of their shade,
and I wonder if they grieve for me--

though my fingertips know quite well
how trees live
for the parts of themselves

that leave.

Sincerely,