Michael Schreiber

without the grand shows and displays, the burning of incense and the lighting of forty million candles and all of the Gregorian chants or the rock and roll or whatever you choose, without any of it—in the silent temple of your heart, you make a simple choice: In this moment, I am going to discover what it means to teach only Love.

The pathless path is an alternative to the default path. It is an embrace of uncertainty and discomfort. It’s a call to adventure in a world that tells us to conform. For me, it’s also a gentle reminder to laugh when things feel out of control and trusting that an uncertain future is not a problem to be solved.

As Yanomami leader, Davi Kopenawa, memorably puts it: There is only one sky and we must take care of it, for if it becomes sick, everything will come to an end.

It’s rare for people to develop compelling and coherent ideas on their own. Individuals and teams flourish best in a vibrant milieu that brings together comment and criticism, competition with peers, and the feedback of an informed audience.

Callard defines aspiration as the slow process of “trying on the values that we hope one day to possess.”⁠7 This is in contrast to an ambitious journey where we already know what we value.

It is an absolute magic, and the magic has little to do with what Shakespeare has to say. You can memorize every cool quote and be as clueless as you were before reading. So it is not Shakespeare’s offering that invokes this evolution. The secret, the magic, is YOU! Shakespeare has created an environment that allows for genuine development.