“The Octopus,” 1912, Alvin Langdon Coburn. Image taken from a page of the 2011 Desk Calendar, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

My dreams, my journey…traveling through life is quite an adventure.

Sometimes life can feel like a journey.  With no map to guide us, it is surprisingly easy to get off the beaten path, and end up heading in an entirely new direction.  I must admit that I have a terrible sense of direction…just ask anyone who knows me personally and they will confirm that to be true.  I couldn’t tell you whether I am heading east or west, north or south, to save my life!  Whenever I plan to travel to some place new, I make certain that I have a map, written directions, and GPS readily on hand to get me there.  When traveling along the road of life, however, there is no compass, there are no street signs, there may even be a few detours, which can be much harder to navigate.  So what is it that guides us?  How do we find our way?

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

For me, it seems I travel my life’s journey even in my sleep.  I have a recurring dream that crept into my slumber just recently.  I am in my car driving to work, motoring along on my usual route.  As I proceed,  I notice that the road is getting progressively narrow, and the smooth surface of the asphalt is getting rougher and rockier…before I know it the road is littered with stones; some as large as boulders!  At this point, my vehicle is now a bicycle which I am frantically pedaling for fear I will be late for work.  I am not alone on the road at this point as now there is a little girl, also on a bicycle, weaving back and forth along the path in front of me.  She gets so close sometimes that I think I’ll topple over her.  Finally I step off of my bike and wheel it along side of me, all the while the little girl laces her jagged string of distractions closer and tighter around me.  I keep trudging along for a while in this manner, trying to avoid her.  Suddenly the little girl disappears, trailing off onto some discreet trail. The rocky road ends  and before me is a huge majestic view of a never-ending valley.

That dream varies here and there whenever I dream it, but the feeling that I have when I awaken from it is always the same.  I have this overwhelming sense of lightness of being and an excitement that makes me want to jump out of bed and start afresh.  What lies in the hours ahead of me beckons me as if I am about to embark on a new journey….a wonderful adventure!  Certainly I have an idea of what the day before me holds, the things that make up my daily routine.  But like the little girl in my dream who keeps seemingly to get in the way of my travels, the challenges and surprises that will surely cause me to alter my normal route, often times are the very things that lead to the best destination for me.  The way is not always clear, the mode of transportation from one interruption to the next frustration may not always be ideal. One thing is for sure, holding on tightly to the reigns of what God has revealed to me and continually treading forward in that, I know that I will get to where I need to be each step of the way.

How about you? As you look back at the souvenirs of your life’s journey so far, remembering the paths that have led to where you are now…what is it that has brought you there; where will your journey take you?

Peace,

Felecia