I have always considered myself a traveler - an explorer. As far as I see it, I believe that whenever I'm given a destination for travel, I'm handed an opportunity to learn more about myself and the world around me. One particular aspect of each journey that never ceases to intrigue me is the way in which the voyage lies before us like an ancient map of the known world. There is the land we recognize, and the sea... yet the rest all around it (or inside it... especially inside it) is a mystery. The cartographers of the past referred to it as "terra incognita" - the unknown territory. In this respect, without prior knowledge of our destination, we are like those ancient explorers who stared at the dragon-bordered maps and boldly navigated into the unknown... guided by the mere possibility of discovery.
I have often asked myself what it is that I'm seeking, what it is that I'm after? Nevertheless, I have never really been able to come up with the answer. It is said that the better you understand the significance of any question, the more difficult it becomes to answer it. Nevertheless, I suppose that in a sense... I am really not looking for anything specifically - the mere joy of seeing what the journey puts before me is sufficient enough. On the other hand, there is also the unavoidable growth which takes place. It's amazing how much one's perspective changes each time we step out of the known territory. Indeed, it many respects one could say that traveling may be the best antidote to narrow mindedness.
Perhaps it is this awareness which drives me to continue moving from place to place in order to embrace the spontaneous moments that come and go on a moment-to-moment basis. Lately, however, I have noticed that one needs not travel far in order to gain this awareness. After all, wherever you go... you are THERE! And in that "there" (or here) spontaneity continues to take place with or without your acknowledgement. In this sense, whether one walks the same path over and over again, day after day after day, month after month after month, or year after year after year... the "path" is never the same. It continuously changes in as much as our views and perceptions about the world are also transformed. Thus, perhaps (paraphrasing Marcel Proust) the real discovery lies not in visiting new and distant lands, but in learning how to see the "same" sights with new eyes - perhaps for the first time.
In this way, the journey is really not only about the destination. It resides at every step along the way, wherein the opportunity to be created anew is always present. Consequently, attempting to follow an itinerary is essentially futile since the very action of attempting to pre-determine your destination can only take you further away from your ability to engage in the spontaneity of each passing moment. The picture above encompasses the way of the traveler as I see it. Not only does the moment captured portray the spontaneous discovery of one weekday's afternoon, but the picture itself could be said to portray the very basis of our existence... in more ways than one.
I'm sure this could be interpreted in different ways according to your own perspective; nevertheless, regardless of how it's seen, surely the water, the mountains, and the horizon's light give an air of what is known and yet unknown. A lot could be said of the ship's steering wheel, but perhaps the word that would best symbolize its meaning would be "freedom". Yes, the freedom of movement, the freedom of choice, the freedom of openness, and the freedom to navigate boldly into that which is unknown. Furthermore, apart from the fact that the wheel points out towards any of the compass's directions, there is one final symbol found within this particular steering wheel which makes it not only "unusual," but also gives it a special significance - the empty circle. Look through it, what do you see?
I end this post with a reflection dating back to the times when ancient explorers set the ship's steering wheel into the course of their own choosing. A course which has carved a path that is as timeless as this very moment:
"We can shape clay into whatever pot we want,
but it is the emptiness
inside the pot which holds whatever we want".
- Lao Tzu
(Tao Te Ching)
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