The Journey Inward

Listening to a podcast* today, I heard the notion that there is nothing we can imagine, create, or experience that the Universe hasn’t already imagined, created or experienced. Poet Sarah Kay lamented that the Universe has already written the poem that you were going to write. I was mid-dip on the torturous dip/pullup machine at the gym when I heard this. I quickly finished my set, grabbed my phone and kept hitting the rewind 30 seconds icon to get back to that comment.

Both Sarah and I shared the same initial reaction: indignation, depression, disappointment, frustration. So is there nothing new to discover? Nothing new to contribute? Are we not actually creative beings, but rather Copycats or Wannabes?

But that isn’t it at all! Instead, there is a sense of peace and security in knowing that the Universe is all knowing, all seeing, omnipotent. There isn’t anything we can experience that hasn’t been experienced elsewhere. Our thoughts, feelings, visions, and imaginings are echoed throughout and are universal in their beauty, inspiration, pain, and grief. The Universe contains limitless examples of synchrony and awe, and it waits for us, invites us and welcomes us to the amazing show that is nature, science, art. It wants us to interpret and become awakened to the thing…the thing that it already knows and can’t wait for us to discover.

*Podcast: TED Radio Hour. Mind, Body, Spirit-Part 1. March 17, 2023.