Not All Who Wander are Lost

Not all who wander are lost. I’ve heard that saying and it makes me think… those wanderers are probably the most free people on the planet. They’re not lost because they have no destination. How could they be lost?

I was talking with a friend last night who is from a country in Europe and moved here about a year ago. She was lamenting the fact that in America there is pressure to have a big house and a nice car and everyone looks the same. She said that it scared her. And as I got to thinking more about it, it scared me too.

I’ve lived in an apartment for over 2 years now and while I hate not having a space to own and renovate that’s free from stomping around on my roof, I must admit that I enjoy the freedom of not owning a house. I pay rent and utilities. That’s pretty much it for this place. What’s the benefit of owning a huge home if you can’t travel as often because you’re spending the majority of your money to live somewhere?

Which brings me to my next point: travel. I don’t know if this is a common sentiment or not, but I feel like there’s more to life than 8-5 work. I would love to be exploring tiny little cobblestone streets in Italy, eating Belgian chocolates fresh from the candy maker, or riding an elephant on the beach in Thailand.

With two weeks of vacation time per year I just don’t see how anyone can take time to enjoy a nice excursion.

My travel goals:

1-Rome, Italy to enjoy 3 hour meals, wine, and architecture

2-Kyoto, Japan to enjoy traditions, tea, and cute packaging

3-Greece, Spain, Laos, Thailand, France,

4-anywhere and everywhere, mostly.

Diving Head-first into Dreams

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about dreams. Not dreams like what images and story line my subconscious mind produces while I sleep. Dreams like things I’ve always wanted to do, places I’ve always wanted to visit, who I’ve always wanted to be. Dreams, for me, consist of asking myself this question “Who would I be if I wasn’t afraid to take risks?”

After all, dreams consist of risk. If there was a recipe for dreams it would probably consist of 8 cups of risk, 2 cups of motivation, and 7 cups of guts (gross, I know..but necessary). Living out my dreams is something I haven’t put much thought to until recently. If I get one life, should I take the easy road and work a safe 8-5 job or should I drop everything I’ve known and that which society promotes as “the good life” and dive head-first into risk, soak it up, roll around in it and chase my dreams?

I have this mental image of chasing dreams and taking risks like that scene in The Parent Trap when one of the girls plays a prank and it ends up covering her camp counselor in molasses and feathers from head to toe…then she gets sent to the “exclusion cabin” which to me looks like more freedom and fun…but anyways. That’s how I picture following my dreams. I’ve just got to get covered from head to toe in risk and learn to be comfortable with it.

That’s when life happens–when we’re covered in the molasses and feathers of risk and running down the highway of our dreams.

Everyone will stare. Everyone will gawk at the audacity and sheer craziness of it. But then, deep down, they’ll wish they had the guts to do the same.

So let’s cast out into our dreams and abandon ourselves to risk, fate, and the Divine Love of Him who Created everything and live as it pleases Him. If He cares for the sparrows and sustains their life, how much more will He care for us, made in His Divine Image?