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Credit: DH Illustration
All journeys have wondrous secret destinations that we might be unaware of, and sometimes we’re so focussed on the places we want to reach, we fail to see these hidden gems. To travel mindfully is better than to just move from one point to the other.
My husband is soon celebrating his 50th birthday and although he is rather reserved and a person of few wants and needs, I thought it would be gratifying to bring together family and friends to mark this special occasion. As the days progressed we thought about the guest list, the menu, the dress code and other party accoutrements. It took a lot of back and forth interactions, sometimes amusing and sometimes not so amusing to arrive at something that everyone agreed upon.
Much dissent, cajoling and laughter was required to make people see a disparate point of view. There was also a lot of discussion and excitement around coordinating our outfits. To decide on a menu we went around sampling food from quite a few restaurants. This got us looking beyond our usual preferences as we tried to explore something new. While meeting the proprietors, interacting with myriad people and trying out different food, we created some new favourites…people and food alike.
Eventually, it did not matter what we wore or decided for the menu, what mattered was the thought we put into planning and preparing for the occasion. We had already made memories even before we had gotten close to the journey’s end. The journey fills you with more stories than the destination ever can.
There will always be more sojourns and more landing places, and sometimes, the journey might end up being something we did not expect.
Curve balls, hardships or challenges could be our companions for a while as voyages rarely unfold the way we want them to. And therein lies their beauty, for who we are when we leave for the journey and who we become when we return, are two very different people.
As you start to walk on the path, the path appears and when you’ve travelled far enough, the journey will transform you and you’ll finally find what you are looking for - yourself. Whether physical or internal, the journey is the reward.