My tendency in nature is to wander. Paths are good for getting from one point to another, but wandering allows for exploration outside of a linear, defined line. As we go through life, we sometimes need to follow a path, maybe a highway, to get where we want to get to. Do I continue to follow an old worn path, or follow a road less traveled? Or, better yet, do I step off the path and forge my own way? It is for me to determine.
I’ve noticed that it is expected in our society to follow worn, old ways of doing things. It is safe, predictable, known. Living in a linear society has it’s challenges and limitations. Often, stepping off the main way of doing things is frowned upon, yet sometimes needed. It might help us to where we are going, and where we want to end up. Or, it might lead to somewhere else, if blindly followed. But what if that’s not my path, my calling, my need? Fine if it works for another, but not for me. Clarity, choice, movement forward in alignment with what is true for me.
I struggle with that assumption, that I should follow the expected, or someone else’s path. The path I follow is my path, though often I see no tread or tracks before me. Sometimes this appears to be a wander, maybe it really is an opening to whatever may come next. My compass being my values, pointing to my true north, guides my way. Trust helps embolden the way.
How could wander show up in your life? Where are you drawn? Where might you need to trust your best way?
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