Wonderful, searching post.

@BK, I love those meandering walks. They engage all our senses and the health benefits are a great bonus. As for certainly, I admit to wanting and needing some degree of it to feel secure but I also tend to think it’s somewhat overrated. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.

@Phil, good for you for not only not self-combusting but also for gaining positive energy and direction. You bring up a key point and that is to distill the questions down to the basics. Tose are great questions you asked and I would even say we should ask them of ourselves on a regular basis. Thanks for your insights.

@BigLittleWolf, beautifully written! I love the idea of spiraling forward as opposed to progressing in a straight line or being stuck in an unending 2D dance (I like the dance part). Thank you for sharing your reflections and for your awesome blog!

@Sara, thank you! Certain truths sometimes write themselves. It’s liberating not thinking about a destination. I think of it as an antidote to burnout and the excitement of where we’ll end up is a plus.

@Lauren, I’m loving all your comments lately! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, experiences and just general awesomeness. I can relate to what you said about banging your head against the wall. I’ve been guilty of this on occasion but it’s so unhealthy and thankfully, not my preferred way of executing anything. This is such a powerful statement that resonates with me: “The universe always seems to orchestrate in a more powerful way than I could ever negotiate with just my mind alone and that translates as trusting the universe and in the well-being.” And I love the story about your neighbor.

I think about this in terms of goal-setting. While I realize the power of envisioning, I’m not big on setting goals and striving to achieve them. I’d rather relax into the well-being.

Yet, I love bursts of impassioned creativity and enjoy while the iron’s hot!

Once I traveled solo through Europe without one room reservation. A month solo in Tahitian Islands with only 2 reservations. I love adventure and not having everything planned.

Still, I can be very tenacious and have banged my head against the wall (figuratively, mind you!) trying to make something happen a certain way. I now think that is hilarious – not to imply I might not do it again! The universe always seems to orchestrate in a more powerful way than I could ever negotiate with just my mind alone and that translates as trusting the universe and in the well-being.

I’ve always been more ruled by my heart and I guess that makes where I’m going less predictable.

I have a neighbor who told me when he was younger he got out a map of the US and would close his eyes and put a pin somewhere. He would then go to that community, get a job, and stay 6 weeks. He did this with different places for 2 years. I LOVE IT!

I love the story about you and your son. A child’s curiosity, joy, trust, and adventurous fun, is a wonder to behold and participate in! I love hanging out with children for that reason.

Great post once again!

“Getting lost in the moment from here to there, bits of bliss not to be missed.”

This is a poetry post. I loved how you tossed in the surprise questions of “Same thing with death? and Same thing with life?”

I have become much more comfortable not knowing exactly where I’m going. I guess this is due, in part, to the fact that I’m getting older and absolutely love the idea of an adventure:~)

I don’t worry so much about “where I’m going” any longer. Too much life that is so far off the course I ever imagined. In a way, I see the sorrow in that. In another vein, I see its beauty, its freedom, its inevitability. When we remove our prescribed paths – we can go anywhere, even if we physically don’t ever change location.

And knowing where you’re going (or not) doesn’t preclude going after your dreams. It’s no longer linear, or fastened to the same dependencies – or any known dependencies.

I like having many possible directions, and a sense of fluidity, of spiraling forward rather than advancing purely from A to B, or circling in a perpetually two-dimensional dance.

Ironic that I spent a lot of this week asking myself this question. I found myself able to step away from any emotion about life and ask some simple questions – how is this working from a happiness standpoint, how does this serve my values, how is this feeding my passions, how am I getting the input and stimulus I need from others. It was so powerful and has given me a new lease of energy and direction. Great questions and great post!

Phil

I took an almost 2 hours walk last week. Although I knew where I was heading to, I did not know how long the route was and thus the uncertainty of how long I would take to reach the destination. There was the determination to get through and also the excitement of what the route would bring me to. Along the way, I had taken path which I had never taken and saw what I had never seen. Although tiring, it was also an exciting walk.

@nothingprofound, me, too. I’m avoiding roller coasters until the wee one reaches minimum height requirements so for now, we’re intimate with train rides. Thanks.

@Justin, yeah, I may or may not have asked that dreaded question on my last first date : ) Thx.

@Eva, your comment reminds me of something I’m embarrassed to admit. I’ve been known to create a daily plan (and I mean detailed) for my vacations which I later realized completely missed the point of a vacation. At least for me. Now, I welcome detours and random pit stops. Thanks.

@Fr. Michael, I’m learning to trust more and more the good things that come to me in silence. Different from acquiescence, or course. Thank you.

@Rudri, you bring up a buzz word for me: worry. Its pull is a tricky one to counter. What I’ve noticed is that when I become conscious that I’m worrying, acknowledging it helps me relax. Gracias.

@Wilma, wise words. You said that so perfectly. Thanks.

@Patty, I definitely have more questions than answers. And I agree that the getting lost part is so cool when we discover a crooked little backroad that has a story waiting to be told. Oh, and if you ever want to meet for coffee (well, tea for me since I’ve given up coffee) at de Young or somewhere in the city, let me know! Merci.