To Wander Well
The Wanderer’s Way #1: To Wander Well
“Life is a Journey. Come, Wander with Me.” 
Life, it is often said, is like a journey. A journey that consists of minutes making hours making days making weeks making months making years – of steps, one after another, that turn into miles traversed.
Allow me to propose, however, that while life is a journey (and I do agree with this analogy), a journey is much simpler than you will experience in life. A journey has a clear beginning and ending. There are waypoints that you can choose to stop and rest at. Your estimated time of arrival, while very rarely kept well, is known and hoped for.
Of course, there are exceptions to all these rules, but in the grand scheme, this is how we often view journeys. They can be planned, and they can be executed.
But, for those of you who are younger, ask those who are older, and for you who are older, remember – how often has life seemed like this kind of journey? Indeed, we may set goals – a college degree, perhaps – with an ‘estimated arrival time,’ but for many of us, the journey to that degree is not the one we expected.
This is because life, unlike a state park or a highway department, does not provide us with a map. And how could it? Life and the world around us are constantly shifting. Each person must walk their own path – the one I follow is not the one that will be followed by my children, nor even those who walk in close companionship with me.
No, life does not provide us with a map. Without one, what else can I consider myself except a wanderer?
To many, perhaps, the label of ‘wanderer’ will be abrasive. However, to borrow a quote from J. R. R. Tolkien, “Not all those who wander are lost.”
This quote is quite possibly overused, but the sentiment still rings true.
To be a wanderer does not mean that you are lost, or that you do not have a sense of direction. It means that you, like the rest of us, do not have all the answers and end up on the wrong track every once and a while.
What will follow is a series of thoughts of varying lengths and philosophical depths that I have come to call the Wanderer’s Way – thoughts on how we are to live this life and, through it all, Wander Well.
