tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post2967412215987197822..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: The Pilgrim's Way (2): Inner and Outer JourneysThe Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-75367860264874553432014-04-23T20:40:24.765+01:002014-04-23T20:40:24.765+01:00'Whatever these journeys are all about, I just...'Whatever these journeys are all about, I just know that sometimes - though not always, but sometimes - just feel so good when I'm walking, I can feel a sense of belonging that I used to think had to do with place of arrival.' <br /><br />Yes, Dritanje, I know exactly what you mean, a kind of rightness and belonging which comes from the walking, the process, rather than any destination. Love that you recognise this, and that we can share it.<br /><br />'Not all those who wander are lost.' JRR TOLKIEN<br /><br />'Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.' MATSUO BASHŌ<br /><br />'Arrival, like origin, is a mythical place.' REBECCA SOLNIT<br />The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-9109711874394621712014-04-22T21:50:45.410+01:002014-04-22T21:50:45.410+01:00Whatever these journeys are all about, I just know...Whatever these journeys are all about, I just know that sometimes - though not always, but sometimes - just feel so good when I'm walking, I can feel a sense of belonging that I used to think had to do with place of arrival. Nowadays I tend to feel that 'goal' is almost a pretext for setting out. And I so enjoy reading about other people's journeys. Thanks for writing about this always fascinating topic.dritanjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16025213970107184429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-68647749232546152052014-04-22T09:16:33.764+01:002014-04-22T09:16:33.764+01:00Yes, it's a paradox. We have this traditional ...Yes, it's a paradox. We have this traditional idea of time, of life, of a journey as linear, as something we progress along from A to B, experiencing things in a certain order and perhaps learning from them, accumulating knowledge, achieving goals then moving on, and so on.<br /><br />Yet, from another viewpoint, and particularly from an Eastern perspective, there is no such thing as time, all experience and all existence is contained just in this moment, and that's the only thing we can be sure of, and this moment now is timeless and hence eternal. All we have is memory of the 'past' — and memory is an unreliable mechanism at best — and fears/hopes/expectations for the 'future', all pure imaginings.<br /><br />It's like the difference between a classical symphony or sonata, with its structure and progression, and a modern free-jazz riff, which circles round a musical centre, with no clear beginning or ending.<br /><br />It's the reason why they say that on the Camino the day-to-day, moment-to moment journey itself is the important thing, not the ostensible, physical goal (e.g. Santiago). The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-39748912761319774882014-04-22T08:42:08.613+01:002014-04-22T08:42:08.613+01:00...and yet we truly only exist in the moment rathe......and yet we truly only exist in the moment rather than a continuum of travel through time - a paradox n'est ce pas?Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16112462990202280587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-21391974667077155752014-04-21T20:22:18.909+01:002014-04-21T20:22:18.909+01:00Yes, I think that, particularly in later life, we ...Yes, I think that, particularly in later life, we are probably more realistic, and more resigned to accepting those few hints and glimpses, George — which is only the scant amount we really knew all along, if we were honest. The mystery, the mystery. Yet — what a great journey! The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-21973376200779659482014-04-21T20:05:18.877+01:002014-04-21T20:05:18.877+01:00Yes, as you say, "we have an urgent need to d...Yes, as you say, "we have an urgent need to discover who we are and what the world is about." I wonder how many questers still have that urgent need — or at least significant parts of it — in the final days of their respective journeys. Is this not a situation in which we are always being pulled forward by the quest, never completely satisfied with what we've discovered? Isn't every pilgrim's discovery, in Tennyson's immortal words, " and arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and ever when I move."? I raise this point because I often wonder if I spend too much time and energy in search of answers which are elusive at best. Sometimes I think that we're lucky if we find nothing more that a few hints and glimpses.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.com