Puzzlement and Exploration

Years ago, I was impressed by a New Yorker Magazine cartoon. In a series of panels, a person in a fog and standing on a small jigsaw-puzzle-piece ice flow makes a larger place to stand by assembling similar pieces in the water nearby. Then, as the fog lifts, he notices that other people have been doing the same thing all along. Each stranded soul has created a larger puzzle piece that can now be assembled into an even larger platform. Presumably, the people will now mingle and collaborate even more.

I think that’s how spirituality goes. So much begins as puzzlement. And subsequent  exploration seems to be done in isolation, but that isn’t so …

BAND OF MISFITS

Each of us is at odds
with our culture in some way,
each an outsider;
that’s how we are alike,
how we are united,
how we are one.

As for myself, I can’t really say I’ve been exploring on my own. Because, for so long, I’ve had books. And here I am writing, myself. Why?

It’s probably part of a trajectory I’m not even aware of. Somehow life suggested to me, a decade ago, that I write poetry. And I said yes, not suspecting that poetry would become more than a hobby or daily journal. It became a spiritual practice.(I was musing on that term earlier today: “spiritual practice.” I used to think it meant learning how to be spiritual; now I think it means actually and consciously being spiritual.)

Anyway, I now feel prompted to write here, at least for now. Not that I have “arrived” with any kind of message to share. But that I’ve begun to benefit from, rejoice in, and understudy other people who are making similar spiritual explorations. I’m glad they began to share their musings and experiences early enough that I can witness their trajectories. Most recently, I’ve resonated with the sharing that Wayne (Wirs) does through his writing, photography, and videos. THANK YOU to all my spiritual teachers, mentors, and friends.  ♥ Jo