The Journey and the Adventure
…And that journey is to be taken alone.
But an adventure
That’s something to go on together.“
My granddaughter, Indigo, gave me a wonderful poem for my birthday that revisited our years telling stories together while she grew up. This passage is one of those that stuck with me for its comment on words and differences.
We often speak of life as a journey. I think Indigo is right to see journeys as personal experience. “My” journey and “your” journey are far more common than “our” journey. In self-help literature, the term is largely used to define a personal act of travel or pilgrimage. Journeys are less understood in collective or shared terms. Your story and mine are different.
Adventures need at least one other person suggests Indigo’s poem. They are the robust and spontaneous exchanges among people who are sharing the new terrain and what it may bring. They start and end with connections bound by what is happening as the action unfolds.
My stories were often about cowboys, which is the theme of the poem and its ending:
“We bring our steeds down the mountain
Wind rushing around us.
As we lift our hats to wipe the sweat from our brows
I am reminded that
in these
Our wildest of souls
Our horses will always ride side by side. “
In 2023, may your journeys transport you from one place to another. And may your adventures bring you comfort that no one need ride alone.
