“…I’ve found that the effort spent puzzling and calculating has only made me feel a closer connection to the cosmos. I’ve found that you can come to know the universe not only by resolving it’s mysteries, but also by immersing yourself within them.” – Brian Greene

You might think this is a quote from a new age mystic, but in fact Brian Greene is a physicist. I happen to think physicists and mystics come to very similar conclusions, they just take very different routes getting there. This idea of every different subject of study ultimately revealing the same truth is a mystery I’ve been immersing myself in for quite some time. When we immerse ourselves in the questions we are looking for what connects us to something larger than ourselves, whether it’s studying the cosmos, deciphering our deepest self, or working with the community or the environment. The work we do on the path we choose can make us feel like we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves, the hitch is, it will look different for each one of us. We each need to find our way to that mysterious something that connects us to the larger whole. And the only way to do that is by spending time wrestling with the ideas that startle our soul and nudge us to think about life in larger, more unfamiliar terms.

How do we get there? Through a science, religion, caring for children, drawing, poetry, gardening? The trick is to pick what calls that magic connection out of us. We’re like a snake charmer, coaxing the mystery to move. Focusing on a defined field of study is a more concrete way of tackling the larger questions. The pitfall is thinking we have to know it all to truly understand the larger picture. It is not by collecting facts about every discipline that brings deeper insight. It’s about getting to the bottom of the one thing that enthralls us. In a way, to know one thing as deeply as possible is to know all things. Because somehow they all connect in some incredibly mysterious way, unravelling what speaks to us gives us a glimpse of a larger whole. Whether it’s geology, psychology, cooking, dancing, what it is doesn’t matter, really knowing that one thing as thoroughly as possible takes us to the depths of what it has to teach us. It’s the down deep we’re after, where everything meets up, where the many rivers spill out into the one ocean.

“There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the same place, so it doesn’t matter which path you take.  The only person wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.” – Hindu proverb

It doesn’t matter whether it’s puzzling over the universes’ enigmas, or the secrets laying hidden within the heart, whether we see the greater mystery in an ancient rock formation, the night sky, or a sleeping child. Any way we choose will get us there if we follow it through as best we can. In reality we all pursue the same answers, we just couch the questions in different languages. To ask the question at all is the real gift. The only thing we have to do is begin looking into what inspires us, what creates wholeness within us, what sets our world on fire. That’s the feeling that lets us know we are onto something bigger. The only question remaining is how far will we follow it? That answer will define the expanse of who we are and who we’ll become.

So how will you get there? Which rabbit hole will you take? Surely it doesn’t matter. Just start walking. I’ll meet you there.

kb