Ms Suskin has already urged us to make meaning out of the little things, the big things. But what is the most important of all the meanings? Our own meaning.
In today’s episode, the poets gathered to explore their own purpose. People will always ask you why you do what you do, because that is the fundamental question. It’s the Why to the Why to the Why. We should all know our Why. The answer to that question is what activates the deepest parts of us. To hear why someone does what they do, and then to ask them why that, wow, like, that is the ultimate search, the fundamental discovery.
So below is my answer to the question to my why (not why I write, which I have written about before, but my ultimate why). Styled after the young poet herself, who wrote hers one morning at 3 AM. I’ll write mind a little more sober, at 9:30 AM. As always, read it, and then write your own, please.
Why
to be good
to share values or explain them or listen
to improve myself daily monthly lifely
to honor heroes and pass them on
to inspire the next ones to inspire their next ones
to laugh in roars
to make others laugh too with me or at me or in spirit
to do something different for the sake of being different
to feel happy often or
to feel deeply everything else
to live life like a kung fu apprentice, walking the earth on mini-mission after mini-mission, as part of a larger one
to become a master myself, of myself, by myself and with others, for others, together
to pen metaphors in my mind or on the page
to see connections between near and far things, bridging and linking
to tell the truth as much as, as fully as, as surprisingly as, as honestly as
to set free what wants to be
to protect those I love and that which I love
to win at every game or at least the game of playing games
to love with every fiber of my being being alive
to die at peace, and until then make peace too