Heroes Not Zombies

I like to see things clearly. I like to understand. I’m insatiably curious. I know, as I’ve learned from experience, that curiosity never ends, that there is no end point where knowledge or understanding are complete. Not least because all that exists is not fixed. Even if I could fully understand something today, by tomorrow, other factors may have come into play, the situation will have evolved, there will be more to discover. But, in fact, the fantasy of knowing all I need to know, or understanding all that can be understood, is just that – a fantasy…..even if I were to limit my attention to a single moment in time. All that exists does so within an infinite web of connections and relationships.

But even knowing those limitations, my curiosity never dries up. I never cease to attempt a better understanding.

I brought those very ideas and values into my daily work with patients, always trying to understand them today, as best I could, whilst knowing that I could never completely understand them….even over a lifetime of consultations. Every day I’d need to stay open to discovering something new, something unexpected.

In this photo, which I took in the hills just outside Comillas, in northern Spain, I can’t see the landscape very clearly. There are valleys and dips in the countryside filled with mists, and the mountain ranges disappear into the blue distance before my eyes. This photo stirs another delight in me – the delight I have in mystery. I enjoy mystery. It inspires me. It stimulates my curiosity. It delights me.

What kind of life would we have if there was no mystery?