WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT ROAD LESS TRAVELLED?

I was standing on the bridge over the River Spey. As you can see, it branches into two tributaries.

I looked left first and there is this lovely bit of river, smooth and calm, easily navigable, leading to promising lands (or so it feels).

Then I looked right to the narrow bit of the river, meandering and dangerous and thought, if I was in a canoe, this is where I should go. It would be much more interesting, really.

I had to wrench my gaze from the left tributary. It looked so peaceful and simple.

Joseph Campbell said Take the Road Less Travelled.

Then I thought again. Why would I want to paddle my canoe down that narrow, unpleasant looking arm of the river?

Because Joseph Campbell said...blah blah blah

And I thought some more (I am doing a lot of thinking up here in the snow and the ice, with the mountains looking on).

How many times in my life have I taken that Road Less Travelled and what happened?

I got on the wrong course and persevered head long into disaster. I stayed in a dead marriage for years. I tried to make things work out that were unworkable. I bought into Suffering is Good for You, it will make you stronger. I believed that "Wherever you go, there you are".

And yet, had I chosen the Road More Travelled...

I looked at the left hand side, smooth as silk, majestic and attractive.

The Road Less Travelled, dear friends, is full of brambles, dangerous and tricky. It demands so much efforts to follow it that frankly, I can no longer see the point of it. Imagine crossing the Sahara on foot instead of hiring a good couple of camels, a guide or ten or even better using a four by four. Why on earth would anyone want to do that?

The Road More Travelled, on the other hand, has many safe havens on it. People have been here before you. They have set up resting places.The brambles have been cut back. The grass is lush, easy to walk on. You might even meet others there who can teach you a few things.

Whereas on the other road, you will only meet haggard figures grimly trying to enjoy the agony. Do you think they will give you a helping hand?

I am off onto the Road More Travelled easier, better sign posted.

I wonder where it will lead me!

With love

Baya

Are New Year's Resolutions necessary Delusions?

31st December in conversation with friend. She says "Next year I am starting my healing business, I've got it all planned."

She has told me this every year for the past twenty years. No healing business, nothing, nada, not a sausage.

Got me thinking.

24th December, my son buys me a selection of  books on writing. Disappointingly Stephen King's "On Writing" recommends writing as the best way of writing.

Got me thinking.

1st January in conversation with self: "This year, I will write that book about the Clearances, watch me". I have said this for five years. No book, nothing, nada, not a sausage.

Got me thinking.

Do I want my dying words to be "I wish I had written that book"? 

Is the desire to write the book better than the writing of it? If I were to write the book, would my life then be empty of meaning? Sounds too Freudian to me!

What stops me from writing. I need the right laptop.  If only I had the right space, the correct desk, the perfect book, the ideal course. Needs that deny my need to write.

Because, don't get me wrong, I am desperate to write. I love writing, I do it in my head all the time. I have always been a writer.

What would you say to a potter who would dream a pot and never use clay? Is a dream pot as good as a real one? As fulfilling? Does it hold water?

Would someone who dreamt clothes and walked around naked be acceptable? 

No, that's not it. I am not naked. I have draped myself in my desire. If I wrote the book I'd have to unwrap myself and stand naked in front of the world. That's not right either. I would be naked.

The unfulfilled desire protects me. 

How much energy do I spend not writing? As much energy as my friend spends not creating her healing centre and may be, as much energy as you spend not (fill in the blanks).

I'll not spend another year with the desire being better than the action. That's not right. It's like wanting to have an orgasm, getting close to it  and yet never daring to. Its horrible!



HAPPY NEW YEAR!