TED2017
David Whyte: A lyrical bridge between past, present and future
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With his signature charm and searching insight, David Whyte meditates on the frontiers of the past, present and future, sharing two poems inspired by his niece's hike along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
David Whyte - Poet, author
David Whyte writes at the intersection of interior and exterior worlds, what he calls the conversational nature of reality, bringing new territory into view with his distinctly personal style. Full bio
David Whyte writes at the intersection of interior and exterior worlds, what he calls the conversational nature of reality, bringing new territory into view with his distinctly personal style. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
The youthful perspective on the future,
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the present perspective on the future
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and the future, mature
perspective on the future --
perspective on the future --
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I'd like to try and bring
all those three tenses together
all those three tenses together
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in one identity tonight.
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And you could say
that the poet, in many ways,
that the poet, in many ways,
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looks at what I call
"the conversational nature of reality."
"the conversational nature of reality."
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And you ask yourself:
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What is the conversational
nature of reality?
nature of reality?
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The conversational nature
of reality is the fact
of reality is the fact
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that whatever you desire of the world --
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whatever you desire of your partner
in a marriage or a love relationship,
in a marriage or a love relationship,
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whatever you desire of your children,
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whatever you desire of the people
who work for you or with you,
who work for you or with you,
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or your world --
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will not happen exactly
as you would like it to happen.
as you would like it to happen.
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But equally,
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whatever the world desires of us --
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whatever our partner,
our child, our colleague,
our child, our colleague,
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our industry,
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our future demands of us,
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will also not happen.
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And what actually happens
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is this frontier
between what you think is you
between what you think is you
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and what you think is not you.
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And this frontier of actual meeting
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between what we call a self
and what we call the world
and what we call the world
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is the only place, actually,
where things are real.
where things are real.
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But it's quite astonishing,
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how little time we spend
at this conversational frontier,
at this conversational frontier,
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and not abstracted away from it
in one strategy or another.
in one strategy or another.
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I was coming through immigration,
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which is quite a dramatic
border at the moment,
border at the moment,
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into the US last year,
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and, you know, you get off
an international flight
an international flight
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across the Atlantic,
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and you're not in the best place;
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you're not at your most
spiritually mature.
spiritually mature.
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You're quite impatient
with the rest of humanity, in fact.
with the rest of humanity, in fact.
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So when you get up to immigration
with your shirt collar out
with your shirt collar out
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and a day's growth of beard,
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and you have very little patience,
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and the immigration officer
looked at my passport
looked at my passport
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and said, "What do you do, Mr. Whyte?"
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I said, "I work with the conversational
nature of reality."
nature of reality."
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(Laughter)
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And he leaned forward over his podium
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and he said, "I needed you last night."
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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And I said, "I'm sorry,
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my powers as a poet
and philosopher only go so far.
and philosopher only go so far.
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I'm not sure I can --"
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But before we knew it,
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we were into a conversation
about his marriage.
about his marriage.
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Here he was in his uniform,
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and the interesting thing was,
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he was looking up and down
the row of officers
the row of officers
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to make sure his supervisor didn't see
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that we was having a real conversation.
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But all of us live
at this conversational frontier
at this conversational frontier
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with the future.
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I'd like to put you in the shoes
of my Irish niece,
of my Irish niece,
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Marlene McCormack,
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standing on a cliff edge
on the western coast of Spain,
on the western coast of Spain,
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overlooking the broad Atlantic.
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Twenty-three years old,
she's just walked 500 miles
she's just walked 500 miles
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from Saint Jean Pied de Port
on the French side of the Pyrenees,
on the French side of the Pyrenees,
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all the way across Northern Spain,
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on this very famous,
old and contemporary pilgrimage
old and contemporary pilgrimage
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called the Camino de Santiago
de Compostela --
de Compostela --
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the Path to Santiago of Compostela.
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And when you get to Santiago, actually,
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it can be something of an anticlimax,
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because there are 100,000
people living there
people living there
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who are not necessarily applauding you
as you're coming into town.
as you're coming into town.
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(Laughter)
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And 10,000 of them are trying to sell you
a memento of your journey.
a memento of your journey.
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But you do have the possibility
of going on for three more days
of going on for three more days
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to this place where Marlene stood,
called, in Spanish, Finisterre,
called, in Spanish, Finisterre,
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in English, Finisterre,
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from the Latin,
meaning "the ends of the earth,"
meaning "the ends of the earth,"
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the place where ground turns to ocean;
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the place where your present
turns into the future.
turns into the future.
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And Marlene had walked this way --
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she just graduated as a 23-year-old
from the University of Sligo
from the University of Sligo
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with a degree in Irish drama.
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And she said to me, "I don't think
the major corporations of the world
the major corporations of the world
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will be knocking on my door."
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I said, "Listen, I've worked
in corporations all over the world
in corporations all over the world
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for decades;
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a degree in drama is what would most
prepare you for the adult --
prepare you for the adult --
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(Laughter)
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corporate world."
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(Applause)
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But she said, "I'm not
interested in that, anyway.
interested in that, anyway.
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I don't want to teach drama,
I want to become a dramatist.
I want to become a dramatist.
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I want to write plays.
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So I walked the Camino
in order to give myself some courage,
in order to give myself some courage,
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in order to walk into my future."
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And I said, "What was the most powerful
moment you had on the whole Camino,
moment you had on the whole Camino,
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the very most powerful moment?"
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She said, "I had many powerful moments,
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but you know, the most powerful
moment was post-Camino,
moment was post-Camino,
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was the three days you go on from Santiago
and come to this cliff edge.
and come to this cliff edge.
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And you go through three rituals.
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The first ritual is to eat
a tapas plate of scallops" --
a tapas plate of scallops" --
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or if you're vegetarian,
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to contemplate the scallop shell.
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(Laughter)
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Because the scallop shell has been
the icon and badge of your walk,
the icon and badge of your walk,
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and every arrow
that you have seen along that way
that you have seen along that way
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has been pointing underneath
a scallop shell.
a scallop shell.
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So really, this first ritual is saying:
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How did you get to this place?
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How did you follow the path to get here?
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How do you hold the conversation of life
when you feel unbesieged,
when you feel unbesieged,
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when you're unbullied,
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when you're left to yourself?
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How do you hold the conversation of life
that brings you to this place?
that brings you to this place?
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And the second ritual is that you burn
something that you've brought.
something that you've brought.
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I said, "What did you burn, Marlene?"
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She said, "I burned a letter
and two postcards."
and two postcards."
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I said, "Astonishing.
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Twenty-three years old and you have paper.
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I can't believe it."
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(Laughter)
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I'm sure there's a Camino app
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where you can just delete
a traumatic text, you know?
a traumatic text, you know?
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(Laughter)
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It will engage the flashlight,
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imbue it with color
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and disappear in a firework of flames.
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But you either bring a letter
or you write one there,
or you write one there,
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and you burn it.
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And of course we know intuitively
what is on those letters and postcards.
what is on those letters and postcards.
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It's a form of affection and love
that is now no longer extant, yeah?
that is now no longer extant, yeah?
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And then the third ritual:
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between all these fires
are large piles of clothes.
are large piles of clothes.
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And you leave an item of clothing
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that has helped you to get to this place.
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And I said to Marlene,
"What did you leave at the cliff edge?"
"What did you leave at the cliff edge?"
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She said, "I left my boots --
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the very things
that I walked in, actually.
that I walked in, actually.
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They were beautiful boots,
I loved those boots,
I loved those boots,
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but they were finished
after seven weeks of walking.
after seven weeks of walking.
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So I walked away in my trainers,
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but I left my boots there."
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She said, "It was really incredible.
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The most powerful moment was,
the sun was going down,
the sun was going down,
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but the full moon was coming up behind me.
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And the full moon was illuminated
by the dying sun in such a powerful way
by the dying sun in such a powerful way
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that even after the sun
had dropped below the horizon,
had dropped below the horizon,
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the moon could still see that sun.
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And I had a moon shadow,
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and I was looking at my moon shadow
walking across the Atlantic,
walking across the Atlantic,
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across this ocean.
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And I thought,
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'Oh! That's my new self
going into the future.'
going into the future.'
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But suddenly I realized
the sun was falling further.
the sun was falling further.
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The moon was losing its reflection,
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and my shadow was disappearing.
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The most powerful moment
I had on the whole Camino
I had on the whole Camino
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was when I realized I myself
had to walk across that unknown sea
had to walk across that unknown sea
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into my future."
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Well, I was so taken by this story,
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I wrote this piece for her.
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We were driving at the time;
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we got home, I sat on the couch,
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I wrote until two in the morning --
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everyone had gone to bed --
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and I gave it to Marlene
at breakfast time.
at breakfast time.
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It's called, "Finisterre,"
for Marlene McCormack.
for Marlene McCormack.
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"The road in the end
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the road in the end
taking the path the sun had taken
taking the path the sun had taken
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the road in the end
taking the path the run had taken
taking the path the run had taken
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into the western sea
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the road in the end
taking the path the sun had taken
taking the path the sun had taken
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into the western sea
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and the moon
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the moon rising behind you
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as you stood where ground turned to ocean:
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no way to your future now
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no way to your future now
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except the way your shadow could take,
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walking before you across water,
going where shadows go,
going where shadows go,
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no way to make sense of a world
that wouldn't let you pass
that wouldn't let you pass
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except to call an end
to the way you had come,
to the way you had come,
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to take out each letter you had brought
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and light their illumined corners;
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and to read them as they drifted
on the late western light;
on the late western light;
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to empty your bags
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to empty your bags;
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to sort this and to leave that
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to sort this and to leave that;
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to promise what you needed
to promise all along
to promise all along
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to promise what you needed
to promise all along,
to promise all along,
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and to abandon the shoes
that brought you here
that brought you here
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right at the water's edge,
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not because you had given up
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not because you had given up
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but because now,
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you would find a different way to tread,
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and because, through it all,
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part of you would still walk on,
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no matter how,
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over the waves."
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"Finisterre."
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For Marlene McCormack --
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(Applause)
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who has already had
her third play performed
her third play performed
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in off-off-off-off-Broadway --
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in Dublin.
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(Laughter)
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But she's on her way.
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This is the last piece.
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This is about the supposed arrival
at the sum of all of our endeavors.
at the sum of all of our endeavors.
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In Santiago itself --
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it could be Santiago,
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it could be Mecca,
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it could be Varanasi,
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it could be Kyoto,
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it could be that threshold
you've set for yourself,
you've set for yourself,
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the disturbing approach
to the consummation of all your goals.
to the consummation of all your goals.
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And one of the difficulties
about walking into your life,
about walking into your life,
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about coming into this body,
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into this world fully,
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is you start to realize
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that you have manufactured
three abiding illusions
three abiding illusions
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that the rest of humanity has shared
with you since the beginning of time.
with you since the beginning of time.
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And the first illusion
is that you can somehow construct a life
is that you can somehow construct a life
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in which you are not vulnerable.
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You can somehow be immune
to all of the difficulties
to all of the difficulties
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and ill health and losses
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that humanity has been subject to
since the beginning of time.
since the beginning of time.
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If we look out at the natural world,
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there's no part of that world
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that doesn't go through cycles
of, first, incipience,
of, first, incipience,
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or hiddenness,
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but then growth, fullness,
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but then a beautiful,
to begin with, disappearance,
to begin with, disappearance,
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and then a very austere,
full disappearance.
full disappearance.
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We look at that, we say,
"That's beautiful,
"That's beautiful,
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but can I just have the first half
of the equation, please?
of the equation, please?
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And when the disappearance is happening,
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I'll close my eyes and wait
for the new cycle to come around."
for the new cycle to come around."
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Which means most human beings
are at war with reality
are at war with reality
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50 percent of the time.
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The mature identity
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is able to live in the full cycle.
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The second illusion is,
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I can construct a life
in which I will not have my heart broken.
in which I will not have my heart broken.
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Romance is the first place
we start to do it.
we start to do it.
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When you're at the beginning
of a new romance or a new marriage,
of a new romance or a new marriage,
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you say, "I have found the person
who will not break my heart."
who will not break my heart."
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I'm sorry;
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you have chosen them out unconsciously
for that exact core competency.
for that exact core competency.
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(Laughter)
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They will break your heart.
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Why?
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Because you care about them.
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You look at parenting, yeah?
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Parenting: "I will be
the perfect mother and father."
the perfect mother and father."
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13:16
Your children will break your heart.
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13:18
And they don't even have to do
anything spectacular or dramatic.
anything spectacular or dramatic.
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But usually, they do do something
spectacular or dramatic --
spectacular or dramatic --
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(Laughter)
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to break your heart.
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13:30
And then they live with you
as spies and saboteurs for years,
as spies and saboteurs for years,
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watching your every psychological move,
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13:36
and spotting your every weakness.
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13:39
And one day,
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when they're about 14 years old,
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13:42
with your back turned to them,
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in the kitchen,
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while you're making something for them --
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(Laughter)
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the psychological stiletto goes in.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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13:58
And you say, "How did you know
exactly where to place it?"
exactly where to place it?"
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(Laughter)
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And they say,
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"I've been watching you for --
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(Laughter)
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a good few years."
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14:11
And then we hope that our armored,
professional personalities
professional personalities
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14:17
will prevent us from having our
heart broken in work.
heart broken in work.
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14:20
But if you're sincere about your work,
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14:23
it should break your heart.
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14:26
You should get to thresholds
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14:27
where you do not know how to proceed.
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14:32
You do not know how to get
from here to there.
from here to there.
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14:36
What does that do?
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It puts you into a proper
relationship with reality.
relationship with reality.
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14:41
Why?
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14:42
Because you have to ask for help.
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14:50
Heartbreak.
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14:52
We don't have a choice about heartbreak,
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14:54
we only have a choice
of having our hearts broken
of having our hearts broken
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14:58
over people and things and projects
that we deeply care about.
that we deeply care about.
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15:05
And the last illusion is,
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15:07
I can somehow plan enough
and arrange things
and arrange things
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15:11
that I will be able to see
the path to the end
the path to the end
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15:15
right from where I'm standing,
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15:17
right to the horizon.
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15:20
But when you think about it,
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15:22
the only environment
in which that would be true
in which that would be true
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15:25
would be a flat desert,
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15:28
empty of any other life.
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15:33
But even in a flat desert,
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15:34
the curvature of the earth
would take the path away from you.
would take the path away from you.
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15:38
So, no;
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15:40
you see the path,
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15:41
and then you don't
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15:43
and then you see it again.
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15:45
So this is "Santiago,"
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15:48
the supposed arrival,
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15:51
which is a kind of return
to the beginning all at the same time.
to the beginning all at the same time.
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3755
15:55
We have this experience of the journey,
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15:58
which is in all of our great
spiritual traditions,
spiritual traditions,
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16:00
of pilgrimage.
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1153
16:02
But just by actually standing
in the ground of your life fully,
in the ground of your life fully,
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4270
16:06
not trying to abstract yourself
into a strategic future
into a strategic future
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16:10
that's actually just an escape
from present heartbreak;
from present heartbreak;
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16:14
the ability to stand
in the ground of your life
in the ground of your life
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16:16
and to look at the horizon
that is pulling you --
that is pulling you --
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16:20
in that moment,
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1318
16:21
you are the whole journey.
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16:23
You are the whole conversation.
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16:27
"Santiago."
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16:28
"The road seen, then not seen
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16:31
the road seen, then not seen
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16:36
the hillside hiding then revealing
the way you should take
the way you should take
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4734
16:40
the road seen, then not seen
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988778
2750
16:43
the hillside hiding then revealing
the way you should take,
the way you should take,
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5076
16:48
the road dropping away from you
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3650
16:52
as if leaving you to walk on thin air,
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4750
16:57
then catching you,
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1175
16:58
catching you,
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1240
16:59
holding you up,
when you thought you would fall,
when you thought you would fall,
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2825
17:02
catching you,
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1163
17:03
holding you up,
when you thought you would fall,
when you thought you would fall,
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2336
17:05
and the way forward
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1546
17:07
the way forward always in the end
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17:11
the way that you came,
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17:12
the way forward always in the end
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1877
17:14
the way that you came,
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1156
17:15
the way that you followed,
the way that carried you into your future,
the way that carried you into your future,
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3334
17:19
that brought you to this place,
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1720
17:20
that brought you to this place,
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2463
17:23
no matter that it sometimes
had to take your promise from you,
had to take your promise from you,
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5258
17:28
no matter that it always
had to break your heart along the way:
had to break your heart along the way:
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5315
17:34
the sense
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1181
17:35
the sense of having walked
from deep inside yourself
from deep inside yourself
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4599
17:40
out into the revelation,
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2162
17:43
to have risked yourself
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1742
17:45
for something that seemed to stand
both inside you and far beyond you,
both inside you and far beyond you,
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5970
17:51
and that called you back in the end
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2497
17:53
to the only road you could follow,
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2640
17:56
walking as you did, in your rags of love
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4353
18:00
walking as you did, in your rags of love
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2892
18:03
and speaking in the voice that by night
became a prayer for safe arrival,
became a prayer for safe arrival,
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6921
18:10
so that one day
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1727
18:12
one day you realized
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2117
18:14
that what you wanted
had actually already happened
had actually already happened
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3483
18:18
one day you realized
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1952
18:20
that what you wanted
had actually already happened
had actually already happened
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2357
18:22
and long ago
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1151
18:23
and in the dwelling place
in which you lived before you began,
in which you lived before you began,
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3977
18:27
and that
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1156
18:28
and that every step along the way,
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1096777
2616
18:31
every step along the way,
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1099417
1647
18:33
you had carried the heart
and the mind and the promise
and the mind and the promise
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3827
18:36
that first set you off
and then drew you on,
and then drew you on,
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2887
18:39
and that
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1163
18:41
and that you were more marvelous
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1109037
4873
18:45
in your simple wish to find a way
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1113934
2264
18:48
you were more marvelous
in your simple wish to find a way
in your simple wish to find a way
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3977
18:52
than the gilded roofs
of any destination you could reach
of any destination you could reach
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4237
18:56
you were more marvelous
in that simple wish to find a way
in that simple wish to find a way
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3737
19:00
than the gilded roofs
of any destination you could reach:
of any destination you could reach:
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2906
19:03
as if, all along,
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1131175
1177
19:04
you had thought the end point
might be a city with golden domes,
might be a city with golden domes,
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1132376
3093
19:07
and cheering crowds,
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1135493
1455
19:08
and turning the corner
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1947
19:10
at what you thought
was the end of the road,
was the end of the road,
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4347
19:15
you found just a simple reflection,
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1143314
3113
19:19
and a clear revelation
beneath the face looking back
beneath the face looking back
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3577
19:22
and beneath it another invitation,
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4328
19:27
all in one glimpse
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2399
19:29
all in one glimpse:
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1157771
1647
19:31
like a person
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1230
19:33
like a person or a place
you had sought forever
you had sought forever
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3417
19:37
like a person or a place
you had sought forever,
you had sought forever,
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3487
19:40
like a bold field of freedom
that beckoned you beyond;
that beckoned you beyond;
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4327
19:45
like another life
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1357
19:46
like another life,
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19:48
and the road
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1267
19:49
the road still stretching on."
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19:54
(Applause)
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Thank you.
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1154
19:56
(Applause)
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3077
20:01
Thank you.
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1151
20:02
(Applause)
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20:07
Thank you very much. Thank you.
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20:10
You're very kind. Thank you.
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1547
20:11
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Whyte - Poet, authorDavid Whyte writes at the intersection of interior and exterior worlds, what he calls the conversational nature of reality, bringing new territory into view with his distinctly personal style.
Why you should listen
David Whyte grew up amid the grounded practicalities of Yorkshire, England, of a very imaginative, storytelling Irish mother. Not choosing between these two sides is what perhaps gave him his first insight into the complexities of human identity. He is quoted as saying that all of his poetry and philosophy is based on what he calls "the conversational nature of reality." His time as a scientist and naturalist fuide in the Galapagos Islands led him to explore what he calls the frontier nature of human identity. Whyte draws from this diverse background and a deep philosophical curiosity to craft poetry and prose that is at once highly relatable, yet altogether new. His work spans the worlds of literature, philosophy and organizational leadership, making him a clear, wise voice in an increasingly complex world.
His books include The Sea in You: Twenty Poems of Requited and Unrequited Love; The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship; River Flow: New & Selected Poems; Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words and Pilgrim.
David Whyte | Speaker | TED.com