The Journey

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
Lao Tzu

This was the starting quote of today’s Zen Habits post.  It was so fitting to Tim and my upcoming journeys, I had to reiterate it here.  After a wonderful weekend in Sun Valley, I think Tim and I were both reluctant to come home to Jackson.  We wanted to keep traveling, keep exploring and keep going…somewhere.

Instead we returned to Jackson and settled back into the routine of work.  Today it rained all day and that only added to our general sense of doldrums.   We just couldn’t get motivated this Monday morning and we didn’t  know why.  The Tour is done, the weekend’s fun was complete, the journey had ended for now.

But honestly, this quote is the true essence of the journey.  Even though we’re back home, the trip isn’t done.  It’s what you make it.  We can make it dull when we return to Jackson, or we could make it fabulous.  It’s up to us.  But just because we’re home, doesn’t mean the exploration stops.

By afternoon, the funk was starting to lift.  I brought home guacamole fixings and Ann made quesadillas and we all sat around the dinner table for hours chatting about our last trips.  We caught up and relaxed and enjoyed wonderful company.  Top it off with ice cream and it was a really good night.   Tonight we kept journeying.  And even though we didn’t cover great distances, we explored, we shared and we lived.

Tim and I both love to travel but sometimes we are too sad having reached the destination.  We are looking towards broadening that view over the next 12 months.   And even when we occasionally feel we’ve reached an end, we’ll learn to remember:

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
— Dr. Seuss