"You are so young, so before all beginning, and I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and to try and love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, that cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer." -Rainer Maria Rilke, "Letter to a Young Poet," July 16th, 1903

My friend read this passage aloud in the library today; I felt as though Mr. Rilke was speaking directly to me. I have a feeling I will return to this quote more than once.

I wish I could be more patient - ridding myself of this intense desire to have all the answers. (What am I going to do next year? How do Matt and I define our "break" next year as we take jobs in different cities? Do I really want to be a nurse?) As a college senior, the pressure to know the answers is overwhelming at times. Where I'll be next year is the question always at the back (or forefront) of my mind. Yet, a letter telling me exactly what to do won't be received - hence the value of being "patient towards all that is unsolved in [my] heart" right?

Mr. Rilke also said to "Live the questions now" and "Do not seek the answers." But at the same time, I cannot afford to let my procrastinating nature take hold - I cannot not seek answers. I must work towards an end... I can't put everything off until the last minute. I need to finish my resume and cover letter. I need to work on my applications to volunteer service programs. I suppose partly what he's getting at though is that living the questions can be seen as this search I'm on. I must be patient when researching the different job opportunities and naturally let the answers (my heart) lead me toward the right path. I can't wait around for the answers to come to me, nor can I expect myself to intrinsically know the answers. I must go about living and working on my resume and whatnot - by moving forward I will eventually come across the answers that I've been looking for.

I didn't do a good job of explaining what's on my mind. Too bad I cannot eloquently write the words on my heart as Mr. Rilke has done for me. -Sara