Our paths are not always easy in life. Some roads are paved others are rocky and then there are the ones that are forbidden. If you’re a curious person like me then you know how hard it is to leave a mystery behind. There’s a locked gate in front of this road. I know from soil survey maps that it’s a strip mine. One of many in my area. And there’s actually a guard just out of sight here. The guard tolerates my stopping at the gate and snapping a few pictures every so often. Sometimes he wants to see how the image turns out. But I’m not allowed to see what is on the other side of the hill. The urge to see what is out there is a basic human drive. We’re all explorers at heart. We need to find out where the road goes and what is out there. It’s not always a physical road like this one. Sometimes it’s an idea or a question that provides the puzzle. Exploring is more than just seeing. It’s experiencing the goal. The sound of the birds in a hidden meadow. It’s the bite of the winter wind and the glimmer of ice while the land sleeps. It’s life in motion. It’s the difference between living and existing.
Tag: the human condition
Forest Dweller
Mankind is a wild animal. We hide it with technology, office buildings and fashionable clothes but in our hearts we instinctively know we must be free to roam. We crave the fresh air and sunshine. We need to find that special spot where we can center our thoughts and breathe. There’s something refreshing about the the smell of the stones and the trees along some fern covered forest floor. If you can sit still enough for long enough nature begins to welcome you home. More than once I’ve had small birds get curious enough to land just out of reach. Sometimes I have fallen asleep only to wake up at the sound of footsteps creeping ever closer. I open one eye and slowly turn my head to see a deer nervously trying to figure out who is on the path.
We live in a age and wonder. The technology in my phone was only science fiction when I got my first job. It has allowed me to share my perspective with the world. Even the pictures taken by the camera can be instantly sent across the planet. Yet with all this access there’s still a drive to be free from it all and just quietly exist.
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