“It is good to have an end to journey forward, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” — Ernest Hemingway
Have you ever just observed how people respond to each other, to their environment, or the interaction of those individuals within a group? Taking this one step further, have you ever wondered how people objectively observe you, in what they feel, see or experience personally? Most of the time, we never give this a second thought. It just never mattered or seemed that important. We become enveloped with an endless list of what may be expected from immediate family, friends or colleagues and leap from one life’s event or accomplishment to another without purposeful intent, examination, self-reflection/evaluation or introspection. If we’re lucky, one day we run into that brick wall of reality, and wonder what this propensity of constant involvement without conscious thought of purpose reveals. We begin asking questions of who I am, what am I doing with my life, why am I here, and where am I going? Walt Whitman is a little more succinct with this quote, “Not I, nor anyone else, can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself.”
The first step is just to wake-up from the lack of consciousness in your existence, which for some may take beyond weeks, months or years, however, that first step is the beginning of enlightenment to the rest of your life. Will there be times you say the wrong thing, take the wrong job, become embarrassed, make the wrong choices, create chaos when you intended peace, fail at being a parent, spouse or friend, move to the wrong city, or completely lose all your possessions from some catastrophic event? The response is a resounding yes without question! Living with intention, purpose and focused consciousness of being, separates you from everyone else. In the words of J. R. R. Tolkien, “Not all those who wander are lost.”
There exists a Christian Folk Song by John Jacob Niles that I have performed many times entitled, I Wonder As I Wander, which lends itself to beg the question . . . in all your wondering what have you gleaned consciously, and where do you wander to illuminate that darkness? The journey matters without equivocation for each of us. As we journey forward, may we be conscious of why we are here, understanding what really matters in the end, as so aptly expressed by Edith Wharton . . . “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” JLR