WANDERING
"NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST" - JRR TOLKIEN
(Geek alert: The above is part of an awesome longer Tolkien quote, if you care to look it up. I stumbled upon a great collection of Tolkien quotes recently that I'm going to have to use in future blog posts. Fair warning!)
I've seen this quote on T-shirts, mugs, posters, bumper stickers, you name it. And it sounds really deep. But for most of us, wandering is something we rarely dabble in. After all, most of us have our schedules programmed into our phones up to the minute. Would any of us dare schedule in some time to just 'wander'? It sounds a little irresponsible.
I spent some time wandering with one of my favorite 9 year olds last week. Molly and I had no plan; we just hopped in the car and indulged ourselves in the art of wandering. We shopped, we went to coffee, we dug through stacks of books at the bookstore. We had a few blissful hours when we ignored all responsibilities and to-do lists and we just enjoyed being together, dreaming up new places to go. I doubt either of us will ever forget it.
My cousin Uri spent time wandering Europe, blogging about his adventures. His journey ended with a visit to Greece, to see his brother who lives as a monk on the island of Patmos. His blog was called "Uri In Search of Something". And I loved every word of it.
Wandering. I think I will schedule in some time for more wandering.
When was the last time you wandered?
(Geek alert: The above is part of an awesome longer Tolkien quote, if you care to look it up. I stumbled upon a great collection of Tolkien quotes recently that I'm going to have to use in future blog posts. Fair warning!)
I've seen this quote on T-shirts, mugs, posters, bumper stickers, you name it. And it sounds really deep. But for most of us, wandering is something we rarely dabble in. After all, most of us have our schedules programmed into our phones up to the minute. Would any of us dare schedule in some time to just 'wander'? It sounds a little irresponsible.
I spent some time wandering with one of my favorite 9 year olds last week. Molly and I had no plan; we just hopped in the car and indulged ourselves in the art of wandering. We shopped, we went to coffee, we dug through stacks of books at the bookstore. We had a few blissful hours when we ignored all responsibilities and to-do lists and we just enjoyed being together, dreaming up new places to go. I doubt either of us will ever forget it.
My cousin Uri spent time wandering Europe, blogging about his adventures. His journey ended with a visit to Greece, to see his brother who lives as a monk on the island of Patmos. His blog was called "Uri In Search of Something". And I loved every word of it.
Wandering. I think I will schedule in some time for more wandering.
When was the last time you wandered?
Imagine the dismay the schedule manic would be in if, in their carefully planned days, all of the 'stuff' they did was actually wandering?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I have to wonder why I do what I do and does it have any meaning. And, if there is meaning, who is it for (because I am not getting it!).
There are times where I think my life has been a waste and I think I ought to get busy doing something important; and then I see my kids, my marriage, my friendships...ahhhhh! there is the meaning! I do wander, all over the place! I actually think I might have a real destination but I am not really sure what it is exactly. What I do know is that this "boredom" that seems to come on when I have been doing a thing for a while is really just wander lust! I think, "there just has to be more!" and I am off! Now, if I could just grab hold of these ventures and make just a tiny bit of sense to them, that would probably be like an epiphany!