The idea of ‘questing’ was something I picked up from ‘role-playing’ games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. But I quickly realized this was a symbolic encoding of something profound, and accessible to ordinary people in daily life.

So I became very interested in quests. Particularly very small quests.

Over the years, this orientation has served me well in diverse situations. I’m not saying it’s the best or only one. Rather, that it’s surprisingly useful (to me, in the way I am in the world).

But I quickly learned a few things…

The first is that my initial way of understanding the quest may be foolish, primitive, confused… because I have not yet become intimate with it, so my fantasies and fears paint the canvas of my imagination…

Another is stranger: to succeed, some quests must not be accomplished. There are different aspects of this. For example, a quest can transform at every new branch (into what is apparently a different quest). But the other is stranger: some quests must be pursued ardently, yet… their success lies precisely in one’s failure to achieve the proposed ‘goal’.

This latter feature is deeply profound. It is subtle. Nuanced. Only one who is passionately engaged and deeply aware will be likely to understand… instead of simply insisting on their envisioned accomplishment.