"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

22 October 2010

Lost.


Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That's where the most important things come from, where you came from, and where you will go ... The things we want are transformative, and we don't know or only think we know what is on the other side of that transformation. Love, wisdom, grace, inspiration -- how do you go about finding these things that are in some ways about extending the boundaries of self into unknown territory. How do you calculate upon the unforeseen? It seems to be an art of recognizing the role of the unforeseen, of keeping balance amid surprises, of collaborating with chance, of recognizing that there are essential mysteries in the world and thereby a limit to calculation, to plan, to control. To calculate on the unforeseen is perhaps exactly the paradoxical operation that life requires of us.

That thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you is usually what you need to find, and finding it is a matter of getting lost.

- Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost

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