I was running late for a meeting in downtown Chicago. For more than an hour I could see the sleek tower where I belonged, but traffic was at a slow crawl and I just couldn’t get there.
I’ve had the same experience with mountain peaks…hiking for hours toward what appeared to be the summit, only to reach it and find the true summit still taunting from far beyond.
Life is like that sometimes.
As a child, my mom would turn long hikes into a game. When I was weary, she’d take my hand and tell me to pick out a distant landmark …maybe a big tree or a unique rock by the side of the trail… “How far?” she’d ask and I would guess the number of steps it would take to arrive at the chosen goal. I would close my eyes and count each pace as she guided me down the trail.
When I’d marched the chosen number of steps, we would stop. I’d open my eyes and assess the situation…more often than not, finding we still had a ways to go. I had underestimated the distance. So I would pick a new number, close my eyes, and keep walking and counting until we closed the gap.
Life is like that sometimes.
Like a shimmering mirage on hot blacktop, life’s goals can recede as quickly as we pursue them.
WideEyedRambler has been a little experiment…an effort to articulate my road warrior voice in a busy life…and I like it. It gives me a platform to explore the beauty and whimsy of the word and share what I see with you.
As I approach 10,000 views for the page, I realize that a day will come when I can devote more time to WideEyedRambler, but as they say in Lord of the Rings…”This is not that day.”
Many of you know about my other project called A Peace of My Mind (APoMM). If you’re not familiar, I’d encourage you to check it out. APoMM began as a small personal project and has mushroomed into a book, two traveling exhibits, and a busy speaking schedule. It has grown beyond my biggest dreams, and it’s not done yet. Every time I reach a goal for the project, new opportunities present themselves and I realize the work is not yet done.
Life is like that sometimes.
The next two years will be exciting for APoMM. I’ll aim to release a second book, produce a new exhibit, and generally push the project from a regional presence to a national stage. But it is going to require my attention and focus. And there are only so many hours in a day.
WideEyedRambler won’t go away. For now the postings may be a little less frequent. But we all need balance…and every once in a while, WideEyedRambler will provide that for me.
I invite you to follow the adventures of APoMM. In time…I think…the success of that project will help propel the development of WideEyedRambler. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Life is like that sometimes.
There’s a whole new year in front of you. Explore it. Travel on.
WideEyedRambler 