Anna Holt
Mr. H Salsich
English 9
September 9th, 2008

The Question and the Journey:
A Comparison of Quotes

As humans, we are each our own. Every one of us is a piece of thread, independent and solid in itself, yet when we delve deep into our souls we find that despite our differences, there is something we have in common. We are all wound together by a mutual goal, by one treacherous and beautiful journey that each of us must travel. Purely and simply, that goal is to live; to truly and wholly fulfill our lives.
In his book Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke speaks to this challenge that life presents us with. His answer, quite simply, is inactivity. “Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now,” he advises, “You would not be able to live them.” We are not to go looking for instruction and guidelines and answers on how to best spend our time here on earth. We, so young and so auspicious (fast), are to sit back like an old man with a cup of tea, and unfold our lives as they come. We are to “live everything”, from the smiles on the faces to the songs hidden between our lips. Perhaps most importantly, we are to avoid “everything unresolved” slumbering (fast) within our hearts. We should ignore the burning questions of life’s meaning, for this moment, this youth, will never come again. Why waste such a perfect river of time thinking about the waterfall that is to come? Have patience, have contentment, and have trust in the future, because looking for an end will only lead us to forget the perfection of today.
When we tread the halls of Pine Point every morning, we see a proverb written in careful print above the doorway; “The journey is the reward.” To me, this quote states the exact message that Rilke tries to portray in his work. The journey, barren at times and thriving at others, is what creates life. We must not look to the end of the road, just as we must not waste our time with unanswerable inquiries. “Love the questions themselves,” Rilke says, not just the answers. Similarly, the proverb tells us to love the passing of an experience, not just the magnificent conclusion. Instead of loving the end, “love the questions” and love the trees and the rocks and the friends by your side as you head down the road of life, on a mission to complete your journey (loose sentence). A year ago, my classmates and I were hiking the steep trail of the Appalachian Mountains. We hiked for hours, long and hard and seemingly impossible hours that ticked by, up and up to the grand peaks above. Today, when I look back on that experience, I realize that no matter how beautiful the view from the top of Carter Notch was it was nothing in comparison to the three beautiful days we spent together as a class. For those three days, I did not question the meaning behind what we were doing. For those three days, “the journey [was] the reward.”
As we go through our course of existence, we find that endings are rare. Ultimately, the one true ending is death itself. Live by the words of a Chinese proverb, and follow in the footsteps of Rainer Maria Rilke. When you look down from up above, stare back at your journey with pride and appreciation, and know that you “lived [your] way into the answer” (loose). Rest in peace knowing that there was a time when “I don’t know” was a good enough answer, when the ending didn’t matter at all. Look back at your life and know, without a doubt, that you lived.