The Journey

Dear Friend,

What do you think of when you hear the word "Journey"? Some might think of a road trip while others might conjure up an image of a San Francisco rock band formed in 1973. Both are accurate images of "Journey", but in this post we're going to be talking about a less literal journey.

The journey of life.

This is a huge topic to try to tackle in one blog post. We won't cover everything, but we'll try to give you some things to think about. In an attempt to not just have large blocks of text, this post will be broken into three main points addressing three main questions.

1. What is the journey?
As stated above, the journey we are referring to is the journey of life. The journey begins when we are born, and ends when we take our last breath. Regardless of your ideas about life after death, this post is talking about life from age 0 to when your physical body stops functioning completely. The journey encompasses a lot. Not only does the journey include the people that we meet and the experiences we have, it also includes the trip that our mind takes as it transforms and molds throughout our life. Each moment helps to shape who we really are. Every time we succeed, every time we fail, every time we fall and pick ourselves back up changes who we are and how we will approach our next challenge. The connections that we make with other people helps create our road map. Some relationships are like places we will never visit again, while other relationships are places we often find ourselves returning to. On our journey from infantry to old age, we grow and mature physically. This is obvious. What is less obvious is our psychological maturity. Many people think that by the time they are about 19 or 20 they are all mature and set and dandy. However this is not true. Sure, maybe by this point our frontal lobe will have closed, but we continue to shape who we are until the day we die. You did not have the exact same views and ideas and dreams today as you did one year ago. They  might be very similar, but over the last 365 days, your mind has grown and changed in ways that we rarely think about. This transformation of mind and soul is a huge part of the journey.

2. Is each journey different?
Yes. Each person has a different journey. No two people are the same. Even identical twins are not the same. Heck, even the two of us aren't the same. We may think parallel, and have very similar morals, but we have contrasting dreams and ambitions. We have not been on the same journey to get to where we are today. Every person is unique. Unless we find a way to genetically clone a human, and then have these clones follow the same life paths, fall in love with the same people at the same time, and control their thoughts, no two people will EVER be the same. This is a miracle of human life. Even if you feel like a failure some days because maybe you didn't pass a test, or you aren't getting along with someone who used to be your other half, you can be proud that in this moment, you are the only one who is you. No one else has been through EXACTLY what you are going through, because no one thinks exactly like you. Often times we find ourselves thinking that we have experienced exactly what others have. This may be true on the outside, but rarely do we have the exact same mental experience as others. Especially since we cannot isolate an event. When something drastic happens, we cannot help but include all other events that have come before the current one, and this can either help or hinder our reaction to the event.

3. What is the destination? Is there one?
This is one of the main problems with our society. In grade school, we work towards college. In college, we work towards employment. Once we have a job, we work towards a promotion. We want a promotion so that we can retire happily. Once we retire, we start thinking about all the regrets we have and before we know it, we're being buried in the ground and that's that for our life on earth. Of course this is a dramatic and oversimplified version of life. Don't get us wrong, we're optimistic, but this is how society seems to operate. Another thing about society: we always need a solid answer. Wouldn't it be convenient if sometime in our life, the clouds parted and God looked down and was like "Kay! You're good! You have reached your destination!" That way we could relax and know with certainty that we have done everything we can to be the perfect, Utopian people. Unfortunately  this does not happen- at least not in this life. Again, believe what you want to believe, but this post is talking about your life on Earth. Anyways, there is not a "destination". Life is more of a really really long car ride and when you run out of gas, then that's it. From one person's perspective, this car ride could be tedious and drab, while another more positive person might make up fun car games, and stop along the way to take in their surroundings. Many people go through their road trip of life with their hands on their wheel and their eyes straight ahead, but the happier people are constantly taking side roads, and stopping to eat, and seeing everything they can before their gas light comes on. Their life may be the same number of years as the previously mentioned driver, however their spiritual and mental space will be full of fresh air and beauty right up until the day they die.

So there you have it. This is a topic that will probably be recurring, as there is so much to talk about. Share your thoughts in the comments, or just think about your journey. Life is not about seeking greatness, but rather choosing to be great in this very moment, and infusing that greatness into everything you say and do. So take deep breaths and calm yourself down, because let's be honest...in life, no one gets out alive.

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine