I'm working on a map. It's of the things I want, the things I need and the things I hope for in my life.
I want it to have rivers and snow, sunny spots that are warm and violent rain storms to wander through. Puddles must be stomped. There will be times when I am out of breath, blissfully happy from my progress. There will also be times when I cry and am frustrated and feel like I can't make it another step.
But there will be a map. It might change every day - actually it will have to change every hour if it's to be my map. I'm a little complicated. There will be big, warm, candlelight filled rooms for guests and friends to stay and warm their hands when they travel. There will be acres of grassy fields and hills to roll down.
It will guide my feet and show me options and make my wold a better, more interesting and more wonderful place. It will be safe here. I might not know the names of the cities I will drive through, or the days I will be there, but there will be big cities and small towns and middle-of-nowhere forks in the road.
It's the forks in the road that I fear. What if I select the wrong path? What if I go someplace dark and lonely and full of spiders? What if I miss gardens full of daisies and dragonflies and perfect napping spots only to find a forest full of unfriendly men who demand a toll and never let me through in the end?
When you draw a map of the future, the one you wish for, how do you make sure it holds everything important and misses nothing you need?
Yes, puddles for little PJ and the freedom to change the map as life dictates. What a wonderful plan.
ReplyDeleteYou have a map PG.
ReplyDeleteMay I see your palm?
Have you ever read Joseph Campbell? Specifically the bits about how, if you look back on your life so far, you can see a path? I say go with your gut. If there are spiders, it will be for a reason. But more likely, I think, you've gone through the spiders and now there will be chocolate!
ReplyDeleteI love your metaphor. Beautifully written. Life is like a map. You may have an idea of where you're going, but on a map you can't always see what your destination looks like or what detours or obstacles that you may encounter along the way.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can ever be sure. :-)
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I decided my life was blown by the wind, I have tried to take what it gives me. Some times it blows me trash, other times treasure and sometimes there is treasure in the garbage. It makes life fairly exciting. Definitely jump in those puddles!
ReplyDeleteSorry I deleted a chunk of text by mistake! I'll try again!
ReplyDeleteI don't really try and map out my future because, and sorry to get religious here, but only God knows what's gonna happen to me. I assume each day is my last and just try to make the most of that and not think too much about the future.
If you go to a place filled with spiders, remember Charlotte's Web and see the beauty in the web it creates. That's difficult, I know, but possible.
ReplyDeleteThe Path not Taken is a quite poetic lament about wondering if one had made different choices. Of course, having made different choices irrevocably changes the path taken to the point where the one you are on might not have been possible in the first place...I would suspect. Though i could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note...what, exactly, is a "wold"? :-)