grrlTravels

Slime covered swamp creature still resident. But unwanted.

I came to the realization that life is indeed a journey rather later than most. I am a worrier. My life was not so much a journey as a swim in a swamp. I would drag myself out of the muck only to turn around and jump right back in. There wasn't much movement, just lots of anxiety. And depression.

Through a series of unfortunate events I started therapy. And I got better. Through another series of (un)fortunate decisions I became pregnant. And I got E. And somewhere in the middle I got myself some perspective and began to look at life differently. I embraced the idea of thinking of life as a journey.

Recently I started thinking about the pervasiveness of the metaphor of life as a journey. While most of the people I know do not share my fascination with third world countries as tourist destinations they mostly do embrace the concept of travel. What is it about the traveling? Is it the chance to escape? To have a break from the ordinary? Freedom from the million details of life? Is it the (mostly unrealized) dream of relaxation? The promise of fun? For myself, I have moments of great clarity when my reality shifts, the more abrupt the shift the better. I am energized by waking up in a place where my senses are assaulted immediately by strangeness and my comfort level plummets.

Isn't that shifting inherent in reading blogs? Crawl out of your own skin for a moment and into the dailyness of someone else's existence. Think to yourself, "I've never thought about it that way," "I would never have chosen those words to describe that situation," or I have no idea what this person is talking about."

That shifting of reality coupled with the commonalities of the human experience is powerful. Grin at someone who language you don't speak but whose child is as irrepressible as your own. Mourn with innocent victims who you will never meet. Share a moment of understanding with a stranger across a crowded room by simply making eye contact.

I hope your life is a journey, a journey replete with new experiences, meaningful connections, and lifelong learning. I've got some great journeys to experience: marriage, parenting, adoption, travel (the kind with airplanes, not metaphors), nurturing creativity. All while avoiding the swamps.

JERRY: Let me get this straight. If you're stuck in quicksand the trick is to do nothing.
GEORGE: Nothing. To do something only makes you sink faster.
JERRY: But you gotta do something.You're in quicksand.
Show me a guy who's stuck in quicksand doing nothing and I'll show you a dead man.
GEORGE: I'd do something. I' d struggle like crazy. Boy, I'd do something all right.
JERRY: You. You'd be dead in a minute.
GEORGE: Gone, baby! Right under.
--"Seinfeld".

Posted by grrlTravels at February 16, 2005 4:55 PM