The Path
April Ambles: Reflections of a Philosophical Forager — Day 11
The path in front of us is rarely a clear one, much as we might like it to be so. It rambles, it turns, it forks, it deviates. Sometimes it is so faint we can scarcely see it at all. Sometimes it appears invisible, and we stumble out in blind faith, hoping we will pick it up as we go. Sometimes the only thing we can see is the path behind us, and that is often fast disappearing.
The path we take is woven of many small threads. It is not just the path from birth to death, or the trail up the mountain, or the choice to marry or stay single, to have children or remain fancy-free.
Each step we take is our path for that moment. It might be the path from your bedroom to your bath. Or the refrigerator to the kitchen sink. It might be the steps you take as you pick up your children’s toys at the end of a long day, when they are finally sleeping, or at least you hope they are. It might be a trek around the world, weaving in and out of colorful markets, stepping on ships, leaving footprints where others have trod for longer than we can fathom.
It might be the path of our minds, flitting here and there at a moment’s distraction, or simmering down to slow motion as we sit by a mountain stream.
Most of our lives are spent in meandering around the insides of our minds, where no one else can follow. When mind and feet match in intention, we feel aligned. When the mind is far from where the feet are, there is a gap to fill.
How often are we able to close the gap? Or at least narrow it so that the path seems easier to find? How many of us can see the tapestry we are weaving every day with our feet and our minds, with the friendships forged, where paths link up momentarily, with moments of clarity when the path shines with more light?
As we continue to draw the paths of our minds, let us be amused by the pattern, or by the randomness we see. Let us lighten our pencil and allow the path to weave where it will. Let us be grateful that we have a path at all.
For more amblings from the author, check out Child of the Woods: An Appalachian Odyssey.
