On reading Rilke after I stopped reading Paul
Letters to a Young Poet found me the summer I stopped reading Paul.
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves." I underlined it the first time as a concession — I couldn't answer the questions, so I would love them instead. A consolation prize.
A year later I read the same line and realized it wasn't a consolation. Loving the questions is a practice. It doesn't solve them. It changes who's holding them.
I'm not sure yet if I've left my tradition or if my tradition has quietly started handing me Rilke.
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves." I underlined it the first time as a concession — I couldn't answer the questions, so I would love them instead. A consolation prize.
A year later I read the same line and realized it wasn't a consolation. Loving the questions is a practice. It doesn't solve them. It changes who's holding them.
I'm not sure yet if I've left my tradition or if my tradition has quietly started handing me Rilke.