There’s a note taped to the bookshelf in my bedroom. It reads, “Ask permission to challenge; WHY is a fighting word.” The note is meant remind me that many people are threatened by questions, a concept that didn’t crystalize for me until a year or so into marriage. Among threatening words, Why is the foremost culprit. This is because Why is an inquiry into the nature of a thing. Interpersonally, it’s an invitation to unveil motive: to be known — at the level of desire — as one is. This prospect is threatening not because of the question itself, but because of our tendency to use information against one another: to manipulate, to criticize, to withhold love. It is no wonder, therefore — in the court of human opinion, where anything you say can and will be used against you — that Why is an unwelcome word. Still, it continues to be one of my favorites. For I believe that if we can master our fear and answer honestly, Why can be a portal to new heights of both connectedness AND freedom. I suspect this is why the territory is so fiercely guarded. For my part, I intend to keep following questions into the unknown, the avoided, the restricted — into The Hinterlands.