Posts Tagged ‘the journey’

Why walk?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

I was out today tramping through mud, rain and leaf mulch.  It was the was the wettest day of the year for us so far.  You might ask why bother?  What is the point in getting soaked and marching through the mire just to end up (hopefully!) back where you start from?  There are, of course, a series of reasons.  It is good, healthy exercise.  We have committed to do it and if you only do so when you feel like it, then it quickly becomes a sporadic activity rather than a regular one.  There  the challenge of navigating the route and the physical demands of the walk too.  There’s unquestionably a sense of gratification in succeeding in doing all of this, as well as the pleasure of all that you see along the way.  And yet, it is odd to to spend all day working at something to end up back where you begun.

I’m a great believer in ‘The Journey’, the journey of Life, and find the metaphor of a walk very appealing and resonant with this bigger journey.  Perhaps when we are feeling stuck on our bigger journey, a walk is a way creating a sense of freedom, progress and movement, and can ‘unstick’ us.  It enables us to see things from many perspectives and angles.

Are there other activities that you find have a metaphorical value for you? 

I”f you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.  Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”  Raymond Inmon

“Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”  Henry David Thoreau

 

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and out the other side

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

The other day was at a networking event and, as one does, met a number of new people.  One of the interesting things about listening to other people’s stories is that sometimes one sees signposts in them that relate to ones own journey.  Listening to a couple of people there, I was transported back in time about 25 years, because their stories took me back to the beginning of mine.

It is in the nature of journeys that one simply puts one foot in front of the other, and sometimes one has clear views of the road, and at other times, one simply walks.  You don’t necessarily notice that you are making progress or moving forwards.  It is a bit like sitting in a motorway traffic jam, and it is only once one reaches its head and see the clear road ahead that you realise that you have got to the other side of it.  This conversation was like that, I realised that I had emerge the other side of this issue.

You emerge into a new space and new possibilities.  So, maybe you are also emerging into a new space, or perhaps you are still a few cars back from the head of the ‘jam’; you really don’t know how much progress you are making till  reach one of these clear places and look back.  If today finds you with a clear view, take your time and enjoy it and the sense of possibilities. If haven’t don’t despair and just keep nudging forwards

“Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change”  Henry Steele Commager

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee but to enable it.”  Antoine de Saint-Exupery