No Rules, Except Discovery

Rachel Pollack, in her Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning novel Unquenchable Fire, offers a declaration that feels at once daring and deeply reassuring:

“There are no rules, except discovery. There is no tradition, except invention.”

These words invite us to step beyond the familiar boundaries we often place around creativity, learning, and spiritual practice. They suggest that the most meaningful work of our lives arises when we relinquish the comfort of rigid prescriptions and allow ourselves to enter into a genuine dialogue with the unknown. Discovery is not a matter of passively waiting for inspiration to arrive; it is the active pursuit of new insights, the willingness to ask questions that may have no immediate answers, and the capacity to notice the unexpected along the way. 

Invention, as Rachel frames it, transforms the idea of tradition. The past becomes neither a relic to be preserved unchanged nor an obstacle to be discarded entirely. Instead, it becomes a foundation from which we create anew. We take what has been given to us—stories, rituals, ideas—and reshape them in ways that reflect the realities of our own time, our personal experiences, and the visions we hold for the future. Tradition, in this sense, becomes a living organism, evolving through each contribution we make.

Rachel’s words resonate because they illuminate the courage required to live and work in this manner. Discovery calls us to risk uncertainty for the sake of authenticity, to take steps that may feel awkward or untested in the hope of uncovering something genuine. Invention asks us to weave our own thread into the greater tapestry, knowing that what we create today may guide, inspire, or challenge those who come after us.

When we embrace this philosophy, we grant ourselves the freedom to shape our own path while also becoming mapmakers for others. We honor the spirit of discovery by venturing forward without a predetermined route, and we uphold the vitality of tradition by daring to invent within it.