Quote Of The Day By David Whyte: 'Sometimes Everything Has To Be Enscribed Across The...'

David Whyte is a widely known and celebrated writer and speaker who has written 10 books of poetry, as well as many essays, books of prose, and more. Born in 1955, Whyte grew up in Yorkshire, England, with an English father and an Irish mother. He didn't take the educational path one might expect for a future renowned author. Whyte got his degree in marine zoology. After this, he embarked on expeditions in incredible locations, like the Amazon, the Himalayas, the Galapagos Islands, and more. Whyte lived in the Galapagos Islands before moving to the U.S. in 1981. That's when he embarked on putting his poetry and philosophical writing out there. 

In an interview with Spirituality Health, Whyte explained that he always thought like a poet but didn't realize how his words would impact others until he grew up. "Looking back I think that my mind has always worked that way. I felt it in my infancy and first started articulating it in my early teens, but I actually thought that everyone thought like this. So it was quite a surprise when people would be taken aback by the insights in my thoughts or my poetry," he explained. And that's why one of Whyte's takes on discovery is today's quote of the day.

"Sometimes everything has to be enscribed across the heavens so you can find the one line already written inside you." 

This poignant line comes from David Whyte's poem "The Journey," which was published in his 1996 poetry book "The House of Belonging." The book sold more than 50,000 copies and remains beloved decades after publication. This line reminds us that it is sometimes necessary to go out and see and experience new things to unlock our beliefs and creativity.

While self-reflection is important, getting stuck inside your own head isn't necessarily the whole path to finding meaning or getting to know yourself. Getting out and seeing the world, exploring new things, and observing what exists outside of ourselves can help us understand ourselves better. This can help inspire us in our creative pursuits more than simply keeping to ourselves and attempting to be creative. 

It's clear through David Whyte's work that his time as a naturalist and as a poet are inextricably linked. As Whyte didn't begin his career as a writer until after he had traveled and explored nature all over the world, it's safe to assume that he found it important to get out and explore in order to truly develop and understand some of his beliefs about himself and the world around him.

It can be easy to get lost in the repetition of day-to-day life. Trying to fit creative pursuits in with the things we have to fill our time with can quickly lead people to burnout and to giving up on philosophizing and creating. Sometimes, though, the answer isn't about trying to force deep thinking or inspiration. Rather, getting out in nature can invite in the spark we seek.

• "Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you."
• "One small thing/I've learned these years,/how to be alone,/and at the edge of aloneness/how to be found by the world."
• "It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing that has given birth to the nightmare."
• "We are each a river with a particular abiding character, but we show radically different aspects of our self according to the territory through which we travel."
• "Those with busy lives, but bereft of the inner images based on the soul's desires, have empty larders, and no fire in the hearth; they will starve if they are not fed something more nourishing."