The book club I belong to recently read some of the poems of Wislawa Szymborska. I was not familiar with her work. If you are, I imagine you will agree with me that her poems are superb. They are clear, accessible, and wise, with not a hint pomposity. The most serious subjects are sometimes treated with lightness, even humor but always with clear-eyed awareness. If you are not familiar with her work, I recommend it to you.
We also read her 1996 Nobel lecture on accepting the prize for literature in that year. Several of her points seem timeless to me and also appropriate for the start of a new year and a new decade.
In her speech, she notes that inspiration belongs to people who do work or follow an avocation they have chosen and love. She claims that this enjoyment leads to the pleasure of using their imagination and enjoying a sense of discovery and adventure.
The next observation she makes is that it would be good for us to say to ourselves, ‘I don’t know.’ She cautioned against those who ‘know’ what is true or right. Instead, wondering opens us to being humble, curious, and willing to learn. She gives the examples of Isaac Newton asking that question about falling apples and Marie Curie asking that question about radioactivity. She notes that new and transforming knowledge evolved from this simple statement and the following questions. The poet ties the joy of chosen work or avocations, inspiration and ‘I don’t know’, “whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know,” she states.
Szymborska’s other observation is that there is no ‘ordinary’ about life on earth. She points out that without thought we say it’s an ‘ordinary day’, ‘an ordinary life’, or ‘an ordinary tree.’ Instead, she suggests that we realize how each life, each animal, each plant even, is unique and singular. She uses the word ‘astonish’ to convey a sense of openness to the true extraordinariness of our existence on earth.
We don’t all have work that we relish. But I hope that we can each identify an aspect of our lives that we love to be engaged in. My wish for everyone in this new year and decade is that you recognize something you love to do. Then indulge in the adventure it offers to find inspiration, the humbleness and openness to question, and the realization that life on earth is truly extraordinary.