Why Are We Here?
Pause to Ponder
I’ve pondered the meaning of life since I was a young girl. I remember being outside in the countryside on a moonless night when I was eight. Looking up at the countless bright stars in the dark sky, I felt full to bursting with a fierce longing to comprehend the vastness of the universe and the meaning of life. I found my father and with great hope for resolution, asked him, “Daddy, why are we here?” But back then, the only answer he could offer me was that he often wondered the exact same thing himself, and had for as long as he could remember.
I still ponder that question today, which is why I love this excerpt from the poem “What to Remember When Waking” by David Whyte, where he reassures us that our lives are not a random accident. Below David’s poem, I’m sharing an excerpt from the introduction to The Twelve Houses—a book written by the late astrologer, Howard Sasportas, where he explains why he believes that we are all born with a particular path that we’re meant to follow.
To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.
You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
an accident
amidst other accidents,
you were invited
from another and greater
night than the one
from which
you have just emerged.
—David Whyte, from “What to Remember When Waking”
“All around us in nature, life unfolds according to certain inner designs. A rosebud opens into a rose, an acorn grows into an oak, and a caterpillar emerges as a butterfly from its cocoon. Is it unreasonable to assume that humans share this quality with the rest of creation—that we, too, unfold according to an inner plan?
Monarch butterfly caterpillar
“…all of us possess certain intrinsic potentials and capabilities. What’s more, somewhere deep within us there is a primordial knowledge or preconscious perception of our true nature, our destiny, our abilities, and our ‘calling’ in life. Not only do we have a particular path to follow, but on some instinctive level, we know what it is. Our fulfillment, happiness, and well-being hinge on discovering this pattern and cooperating with its realization.”
—Howard Sasportas
