When Answers Aren’t Enough

Art, wisdom, and what we cannot understand.

There are many answers we will never receive during our lifetime. There are many experiences we won’t fully understand.

If we had the answers, there would be nothing for us to try to make sense of.

Much of life is making sense of the insensible and assigning meaning to what matters to us. We write stories of our own truths to help us understand life.

There’s only so much we can comprehend before we cross the threshold of life and death—a moment suspended between worlds—where we are filled with deep understanding and love.

In the physical world, we can only feel a fraction of the deep understanding and love we will feel at the threshold of life and death, but it’s returning to the heart—the place that holds those qualities—that keeps us alive until death arrives.

What should we do while we wait for that moment to come? We find pathways to the heart.

Side note: I love em dashes. I’ve stopped using them for the past six months or so because everyone assumes that when they see an em dash, it must have been written with ChatGPT. Sooo, when you see an em dash in my writing, it’s an intentional and conscious choice of mine—not a robot! :)

In my 20s, I spent a lot of time trying to understand my pain. In my 30s, I’ve come to realize some things can only be understood by the heart. What we can’t make sense of in our minds is an invitation to turn toward our hearts. The wisdom that lives there helps us make sense of the insensible. Wisdom allows us to feel peace amid sorrow and have faith when there is no hope. Wisdom is what helps us heal.

What I didn’t understand in my 20s was that insight isn’t the same as embodiment, and answers don’t necessarily help us heal. My 20-year old mind craved insight and answers, but the true healing I was seeking lay in my heart.

Art is a pathway to the heart, and turning toward our heart is the remedy for everything. Art doesn’t require perfection, rules, or linear ways of thinking or being. We can access art without language, whether it’s through a song’s melody, the movement of dance, or crafting something with our hands that eases the logical mind and amplifies our creative essence. As I write this, I think about how art transcends language. Perhaps art is a language of its own… maybe art is the language of the heart.

Writing is also a form of art, and therefore a pathway to the heart. It’s been the path I’ve used the most throughout my life. I tried to find my first journal from when I was six or seven years old to include a picture of it in this post, but I couldn’t find it! It’s in my memory boxes, somewhere in storage.

Whether it’s writing, singing, dancing, painting, or anything else, true art requires honesty. True art is the kind that touches your soul. The kind that makes you feel something, like a song or dance performance that brings you to tears. Your mind might not understand why you’re crying, but your heart does.

Comedy is one of my favorite art forms. It’s the truth within comedy that makes it funny and relatable. Writing requires honesty as well. Writers, just like any other artists, have to tell the truth—their truth—otherwise it just feels flat. The purpose of art isn’t to be liked by other people; it’s to fall in love with ourselves. This is how we heal.

Any form of art is the expression of Spirit. Athletes, comedians, writers, singers, dancers, painters… every single one of us is an artist in our own way. We all share an expression of Spirit that’s different, and that’s what makes it so beautiful.

All this to say, turn toward your heart. You might not find the answers you were looking for, but answers don’t help us heal. Wisdom does. Wisdom helps us write stories that heal ourselves and each other—the kinds of stories without answers that connect us to one another and to all of creation.

With love and gratitude,

Sam