A Good Sign

           I found out the night before last that I've been accepted into the Anthro MA program at one of my schools.  I am still waiting to hear back from the School of Public health there, and from the other school where I applied.  Still, though...this is awesome news.  It means I am going SOMEWHERE in the fall.  It means I am moving forward. Most importantly for my approval-hungry little soul, it means that people who matter believe in me enough to want to mentor me.

                    On the other hand, this acceptance cements the idea that my life is gonna change soon in a pretty big way.  I'll be moving out of state to a place where I don't know anyone, and I'll most likely have to leave my dog with my mom and sister.  I don't handle change well, no matter how much I want it, and I am starting to feel the edge or terror brushing up against me. I am trying really hard to be proactive this time, though, and I suppose this blog is part of that. I can keep track of this whole process as it happens so that maybe my own feelings won't catch me my surprise...

The Importance of Paying Attention

              So this morning I realized something about myself that I seriously don't like.  I've been suspecting it for a while- years, even- but it's only now come into sharp focus...and just in the nick of time, really. I have this problem where I generally assume that I'm always right.  It's not, like, horribly out of control and obnoxious or any thing (the majority of the time, at least) but I'd be a fool to pretend it wasn't a part of my personality.  It's just that if I am bothering to speak on a topic it is usually because I believe that I genuinely have something to contribute.  The trouble comes in when that something is a tidbit that I misunderstood, or that I picked up from an unreliable source. I hope I am not fooling myself when I say that when I say stupid stuff it is usually a product of the latter- but good analytical skills to NOT cancel out intellectual laziness. If I am ever going to develop a voice worth trusting, I need to not only THINK before I open up my mouth, but also do the appropriate background research.  And if I haven't done those things to the appropriate degree, I ought to keep my mouth shut and start listening.  My pride took a hit today, but thankfully it was a small one.  Let's hope I can make use of the lesson to keep myself from bigger, more public spills in the future.

First Post!

          Anyone who has made their way over to this blog from my real life probably knows that while Live the Questions is brand-spankin'-new, my propensity for rambling endlessly via an internet journal is certainly not.  The thing is, though, that I really do want this to be a different sort of blogging experience.  I have finally figured out what it is I should be "doing with my life" (besides watching primetime dramas on DVR and eating chocolate pudding for breakfast) and I want this journal to reflect that new found sense of direction and certainty.  I spent a lot of years searching for it, after all.     
        For those who DON'T already know (and honestly, I hope that's most of you.  You'll probably be able to take me more seriously if we're just meeting now) I am currently waiting to hear back from two master's programs, one an MS in Medical Anthropology and the other an MA in the same with the opportunity for a dual-degree in Public Health. Ideally, I will get some good news within the next few weeks and I can get down to brass tacks- posting about all the fun Anthro and Psych and Biology articles I come across on the web, both from academic journals and other blogs.  The conversation going on right now regarding what makes us humans tick is amazingly fun and incredibly important- and I want more than anything to become a legitimate part of it. I hope you'll join me for the journey.

Oh!  BTW- I nabbed the blog's title from a quote by Ranier Maria Rilke that I thought captured the essence of my search for context and understanding in a way that transcended any particular discipline or endeavor. Here it is in its entirety:

…I would like to beg you…as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
--Rainier Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet