Not all who wander are lost
Are you a wanderer? I am. There is nothing better than to grab my camera and maybe my dogs Duke and Ranger and head off on a hike. I usually know where I’m going but will sometimes let the dogs guide me on the adventure of the day. Probably one of my favorite activities is to find a rock, or a quiet meadow, pull up a stump to sit on and just be. I think we spend so much of our daily existence in the act of human doing that we forget to just sit and practice human being.
I have a colleague that I went through the doctoral program with-Vincent- he was a wanderer. He’d walk in circles during some of our work/study sessions, chewing on problems we were working on in his head. We learned to let Vincent go wander around for a while, knowing he’d come back when he’d figured out a solution to offer to the group. Vincent would also chew on his words when presenting his ideas, as if he mouth was out of sync with his brain that seemed to be working at light speed. We’d joke that Vincent was a professional wanderer but he was never lost. He wandered with a purpose and I think there’s something instructive about that.
We've all known or seen people that just seem to wander aimlessly, with no clear sense of direction about where they are going or what they're experiencing- they appear lost. That said, I think that’s the point- to be fully engaged in the activity, whatever it is, and let it take you for a ride wherever it goes. You’re not lost, you’re just present. Try it and let yourself go... wander on…
Live Well,
Chris
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