Pathways

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” 

Can't remember a time when I didn't want to embody Emerson's words, forsaking the well-worn paths for the unexplored, the to-be-discovered.  But am realizing that really doesn't describe me at all.  I do love the back road, the rambly country lane, the big city side street.  And I am well-versed in super highways & multi-lane interstates.  It's the balance of the two that makes life interesting AND manageable.  

When I whisked a grannie client down to the Chart House in Philadelphia, we took the rambly 2-lane roads route UP TO the last bit, when we swung onto the Vine Street Expressway.  And we took I-95 home, when it was dark & there weren't any runners along the Kelly Drive or dozens of racing shells on the river.  It took both types of roadways to make the evening a delightful success.  

So, too, with life.  It is important to go off the well-worn path, to blaze a new trail, but whether it's on the one or the other, having a goal in mind is essential.  Which is not how I once understood the Emerson quote.  Maybe it was due to putting too much emphasis on "where the path may lead," thinking it was a call to forging ahead to some unknown destination.  

One thing I've learned over the years is that my ultimate destination is be open to surprises along the way, to redirecting my footsteps, to keep an eye out for the better direction, be it on a popular highway or a barely visible trail.  But blazing TOTALLY new paths?  Am thinking more & more that it's romantic, but highly impractical.  Be open to it, be willing to whack away when necessary, but to prefer it to going where others have gone before?

Sorry, Ralph - doing it your way left me stranded too many times. Give me good roads with a worthy destination & good companions along the way.