What question does your life begin with?
Posted by tommellors on February 18, 2010
A question marks a beginning. A period marks an end.
Shakespeare’s great tragedy Hamlet begins with a simple question: “Who’s there?” This question is the frame within which the whole play unfolds. It is asked of every character and it leads to surprising revelations.
Who’s there? Hamlet the madman, or Hamlet the silent schemer? Claudius the rightful King, or Claudius the usurper? Gertrude the faithful mother, or Gertrude the incestuous liar?
If “Who’s there?” creates the frame within which Hamlet exists, what question frames your existence?
In Zen and the Art of Making a Living – a somewhat alternative career guide – Laurence G. Boldt asks, “What are the dominant questions in your life?” Are they practical questions, such as “How can I get by?” Or are they more spiritual questions, such as “Who am I?” If you’re like me, then your questions are probably a combination of both.
Perhaps your questions are the same as Hamlet’s. Perhaps you are trying to determine – through thought and experiment – who or what you are before acting. That is what makes Hamlet take so damn long to kill Claudius, after all.
Maybe your questions are different. Maybe your question is less general. Maybe it’s not so much a quest for identity as a quest for some nugget of truth, like “Is there a God?” or “Is it possible to create a just world?”
Several months ago I made a list of my dominate questions. Some are practical, some are spiritual and some are intellectual. Here are a few of these questions:
How can I get by? How can I enjoy making a living?
Is happiness the meaning of life? It is only a rightful goal when it encompasses everyone/everything?
How much of morality is natural and how much is socially conditioned?
Is there such a thing as progress? Is there a perfect system?
What are your dominant questions? Take some time to think about them and if you feel up to it, share them below.
Photo credit: Marco Bellucci
