THOUGHTS FOR THE JOURNEY

I have " logged" in journals and notebooks most of my walks and travels.
I have found that I have been drawn to a random collection of verses and quotes which I have recorded.

Placed at the front of of my journals they have seemed to give meaning to the journeys. These are but a few that I particularly like

" I am a part of all that I have met

yet all experience is an arch wherethro

gleams the untravelled world,

whose margin fades

For ever and ever when I move"

Alfred Lord Tennyson

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"To climb the great mountains is to leave the comfort of familiar places

and to challenge the very essence of oneself.

Perhaps there is no greater quest"

Peter Hillary( 20/5/96)

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' Life is an adventure or it is nothing'

Helen Keller

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'Not all those who wander are lost'

Tolkien

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'Whatever you can do

or dream you can

begin it'

Goethe

ITHACA

Ithaca

When you set out for Ithaka

ask that your way be long,

full of adventure, full of instruction.

The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - do not fear them:

such as these you will never find

as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare

emotion touch your spirit and your body.

The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - you will not meet them

unless you carry them in your soul,

unless your soul raise them up before you.

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Ask that your way be long.

At many a Summer dawn to enter

with what gratitude, what joy -

ports seen for the first time;

to stop at Phoenician trading centres,

and to buy good merchandise,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

and sensuous perfumes of every kind,

sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;

to visit many Egyptian cities,

to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

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Have Ithaka always in your mind.

Your arrival there is what you are destined for.

But don't in the least hurry the journey.

Better it last for years,

so that when you reach the island you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.

Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.

Without her you would not have set out.

She hasn't anything else to give you.

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And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.

So wise you have become, of such experience,

that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean.

Constantine P Cavafy

NEVER TRULY LOST

In his autobiography ,'Never Truly Lost', the Australian Twentieth Century bush adventurer and business man, Paddy Pallin commented on the random decisons which led him from England to Australia and altered the course of his life.

He quoted the Australian classic Such is Life by Tom Collins and I quote it here because it does say much about life decisions.

The misty expanse of futurity is radiated with divergent lines of rigid steel

and along one of those.....you travel...

at each junction you switch right or left and on you go........

the way of your own choosing.

But there is no stopping or turning back....

another junction flashes into sight, and again your choice is made...

One line may lead through the Slough of Despond

and the other across the Delectable mountains...

but you don't know till

the cloven mists of the future

melt into the manifest present

Tom Collins wrote this in 1903 ,and this reflection on life decisions is made shortly afterwards by the great American Poet Robert Frost

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.


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,

And that has made all the difference.

FOR THE TRAVELLER

For the Traveler

Every time you leave home,

Another road takes you

Into a world you were never in.

New strangers on other paths await.

New places that have never seen you

Will startle a little at your entry.

Old places that know you well

Will pretend nothing

Changed since your last visit.

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When you travel, you find yourself

Alone in a different way,

More attentive now

To the self you bring along,

Your more subtle eye watching

You abroad and how what meets you

Touches that part of the heart

That lies low at home:

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How you unexpectedly attune

To the timbre in some voice,

Opening in conversation

You want to take in

To where your longing

Has pressed hard enough

Inward, on some unsaid dark,

To create a crystal of insight

You could not have knownYou needed

To illuminate

Your way.

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When you travel,

A new silence Goes with you,

And if you listen,

You will hear

What your heart would

Love to say.

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A journey can become a sacred thing:

Make sure, before you go,

To take the time

To bless your going forth,

To free your heart of ballast

So that the compass of your soul

Might direct you toward

The territories of spirit

Where you will discover

More of your hidden life,

And the urgencies

That deserve to claim you.

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May you travel in an awakened way,

Gathered wisely into your inner ground;

That you may not waste the invitations

Which wait along the way to transform you.

May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,

And live your time away to its fullest;

Return home more enriched, and free

To balance the gift of days which call you. ~

John O'Donohue ~

CAMINO SHELLS

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Scallop Shells- Journeys End or Beginning?

PILGRIMS

Life is some sort of pilgrimmage. The destination is always a little uncertain and beyond the horizon? Well that is part of the meaning to life really.

So this is about the present journey and I start this a bit late for 2009...walk on

LIFE IS LIKE A RIVER

I recently journeyed down a river by houseboat. As a confirmed non-boatee with litle boating experience this was rather an interesting trip.

There is something about "rivers" that is so special.

For one thing, your path is determined and you just go with the flow or you can go against the flow . On past long canoe trips it was so peaceful at times to let the current drift you along silent reaches . No need to plan or think as the path was determined.So peaceful.

Our river trip had its moments of course -storms,fuel,anchor drift. But in general the river took us along and we enjoyed the journey

SEIZURES OF THE MOMENT

Cliches like "Live in the present moment" and " seize the day" flood lifestyle writings.

It's true we all acknowledge that .

It is also true that distant hills do look a lot greener than the present moment.

Frequently, however, our intent to live in the present is buried in the lost legions of good intentions. Hidden somewhere near the need to get fit, the need to lose weight, the need to reduce stress, the need to work on relationship.... and so the thought and intention is dead and buried.

Rather ironic really ,because the thought of living in the present moment is put off as something we will definitely intend to practice later.

So here are some immediate tips if you really want to try to live the moment

1. Start at this particular moment..grab it now...for me this moment now is this blog which is not the best ever written in the past or the best that will ever be written in the future but at this moment is my best

2. Stay with the moment without distraction

3. Be happy that you have this moment.

4. When the time comes move on to the next moment and leave this one behind

5 Keep the process of staying in the moment as simple as possible......it is possible...SEIZE IT

LIFE AND JOURNEYS

Life is all about a journey or so some say in searching for that magic metaphor which gives LIFE meaning. Whatever meaning you give to life it has the distinct mortal beginning and end and then all those " bits" in the middle.

This all about the " bits "- however big that middle is.

This is all about the journey in the middle.

Hope you will join me on this trip

Happy Trails