Q – QUEST


These are very short extracts from Susan E. Schwartz and my recently released book “Aging & Becoming ~ A Reflective Enquiry”. Susan E. Schwartz is represented as SES, my words as SS – italicised. From chapter ‘Quest’.

SS:The quest in life is being aware of the questions – about who we are, our place in the mystery of life as we experience it. We can ask the questions, stir things up a bit as it will surely do. They can serve as a stepping stone; we can welcome whatever arises as we would a guest, coming newly into our home. Can I live the questions I ask myself? The only foolish question is the one not asked. pg 103

Quest is at the heart of what I do – the holy grail, and the terror that you’ll never find it, seemed a perfect metaphor for life.

Jeanette Winterson

36 Comments on AtoZ Blog Challenge Q Quest

  2. We have been trained to learn the answers and write the exams susan:) in this process I feel I have to certain extent stopped asking questions…. probably listening to others answers….. I remember one teacher telling never stop asking questions, as a famous author says” If you know the why, you can live any how…..

    • Thanks for coming by Genevive. I love that author’s statement, ‘if you know the why, you can live any how …’ Sometimes we don’t know the why, but that doesn’t stop us asking the questions with the curiosity of a child .. hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

  6. Susan, I love the word quest because of it’s significance in the song, The Impossible Dream.

    The lines that I’m thinking of go as follows:
    This is my quest, to follow that star
    No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
    To fight for the right, without question or pause
    To be willing to march unto hell for a heavenly cause…
    And I know, if I’ll only be true, to this glorious quest…
    That my heart, will lie peaceful and calm, when I’m laid to my rest.

    I LOVE the song. 🙂

    • That’s lovely Hilary! May the green shoots blossom into what they are meant to, what is in their nature – a metaphor for you. All best, Susan.

  9. In undergrad I had a prof who told us that the only thing he really wanted us to remember from his English Lit class was to always: “keep asking why.” His words have stayed with me. I’m reminded of that by what you wrote above. It’s always about the questions.

    • My late father tells the story of when a Philosophy paper was written, at Oxford University. There was one question on the paper, 3 hours in which to answer it. As the others were busy scratching their heads, to the question ‘Why’? – a student wrote something and stood up after a few minutes and left the room. His answer/response? ‘Why not’? Well, THAT has always stayed with me! I agree Ally Bean, also keep on asking the questions – why? Keep the curiosity alive … Thank you for coming by!

  10. This post for me is intriguing as I never totally knew which direction I wanted to go in life. I think I have been drifting around for ages. However, even drifting puts me in some interesting situations. Life definitely is a learning experience.

  11. Questions end up in knowledge, fueled by curiosity. Thanks to the ease of Google searches, questioning kids now can find answers much faster.

    OK, I always end up with my teacher hat on!

    • Thanks teacher! Are they the right answers – to the right questions? Is it information we’re after or something else – google can be helpful I guess. 🙂

  12. I love this Susan – life’s quest framed as questions. That’s such a wonderful way of looking at it, and holding that viewpoint really is one of engagement and communication. Which is what life is, isn’t it?

  13. Just saying yes to our individual quest is for me saying yes to life. It is the recognition that aging is not the end of the journey. If we believe that life is about moving forward in our quest, then not moving forward equates to death, and death strikes when we decide to end our quest, regardless of whether we are still living or we are deceased.

    I’m sorry I’m just getting around to your articles on Aging in the A to Z Blog Challenge, but my own writing has me going in a different direction, and in my own quest for my life, I have decided to move forward in it. I’ve enjoyed contemplating over your Q.

    All the best my dear friend.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

    • Thank you dear Patricia for coming by – lovely to see you here. I like your comment about our individual quest.

      I read ‘Still Me – After All These Years’ and much enjoyed it. And reviewed it – hope you got to see it. It is a great book, I much enjoyed it not only for the women’s stories, including yours, but for the high level of skill in the crafting of them. May your writing journey continue on its trajectory!

      All best to you dear friend, Shalom, Susan

  15. Hi Susan,

    Today the Q, one of the most challenging letters of the April Alphabet Blogging Quest and you handle it sublime. My compliments. To me it seems that you have found your holy grail in writing 😉

    • So kind thank you Susanne! (You’ve read the book but perhaps it comes across in a new way on re-reading excerpts of it) .. ‘… holy grail in writing’? Now there’s a thought, thank you for thinking it … 🙂 🙂

  16. If we ask no questions in life then we will learn little. Life should be filled with questions–even the ones we cannot answer.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    • Thanks Arlee for coming by – I agree sometimes there are no answers but that doesn’t stop the questions, and living them, as best we can –

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