Are we there yet!?

This thought provoking Postcrossing card is one of my very favourites, and has come to me care of Ivy (who designed the print herself), in China. This image of the open road has made me think about the concept of journeys – getting from one place to another, and what happens on the way. Years ago, I travelled to America and participated in a meditation exercise. I was asked to imagine myself, as I was when I was small. I had to imagine I was looking at my 8 year old self, and think “What would she think of me now? Would she be happy?” and of course, I cried. I felt like there was so much I should have done by then, so much I should have achieved and seen and experienced, and so much I shouldn’t have done. This concept amuses me now, as I was merely 23, and nearly a decade later there’s still a lot I’d like to do and see, but I know that any mistakes I’ve made are purely learning experiences. It’s okay to muck up – so long as you keep learning.

Journeys in music ….

SUPERTRAMP says 'Take The Long Way Home'

Does it feel that your life’s become a catastrophe, oh it has to be for you to grow boy
When you look through the years and see what you could have been,
oh what you might have been if you had more time

BILLY JOEL sings of Vienna…

Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be Before your time

KANSAS reminds us of our mortality with Dust in the Wind

Don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, all your money won’t another minute buy.

Journeys in the written word ....

Brilliant Robert Frost reminds us that things are continually changing in our world

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.

and that we always have choices to make ....

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by


At 30, I know I still have lots to learn but one learned lesson, I must pass on to those willing to listen (and don't be put off, I read it on a toilet door)...

There is only one person in the world you have control over... you.