Step onto the Road

It's a dangerous business, going out your door.....

There have been those times when I decided to step onto the road ~ that path that's not quite the usual neighborhood street, not precisely the work-a-day world ~ and found myself in new territory. My place in that territory unexplored and fresh, filled with adventure ~ and with moments of consequence.

What is that road? Where is it leading? Two questions I may ask ~ and to which I receive no responses. If I had all the information about where I was headed, I may be more reluctant to simply step onto the road. Like Bilbo and Frodo, I find some of my adventures painful or difficult. If I knew those times were in my future, well, I really don't know what I'd do.

This season, the run up to the New Year, is the perfect time to review how my stepping out has gifted and shifted me. One of my steps took me out of the work-a-day world and into the space of self-propelling my days. I feel a bit out of sync. As though the norm is having a 9-to-5 job and now I am no longer normal. I no longer spend time with my work friends. TGIFs are not only no longer necessary, I have no one with whom I can or need to commiserate about work.

 Along with stepping off that path, I've stepped onto another. Planning  out my days, my time has been a challenge. There are things I want to do, things that need to get done, places I want to go. With all the time in the world open to me, I get flummoxed by its vastness. With nothing to particularly plan around ~ like a work schedule, the amount of time itself can overwhelm. I'm continuing to work with finding my own personal flow.

Some people have shared that they are jealous of all the time I now have. I rarely respond with more than a smile, nod or simply 'yes' even though I'm thinking more about the fact that my path, my road, is not theirs. They will know soon enough what it means to have an uncharted path in front of you. Then they will find their own way.

What road did you step onto this past year? Was there more than one change? What challenges did you face? What gifts did you receive? What did you leave behind? How do you currently feel about your choice?

Only One Road

"He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep and every path was its tributary. 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if your don't keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.'"

~ Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring

Bilbo Baggins. Anyone who knows of The Hobbit or The Ring Trilogy has encountered Bilbo. Little person? Yes, a Hobbit is a little person with large feet and, especially in the case of Bilbo Baggins, an incredible sense of adventure.

How does this apply to me? It's the Road that's like a great river. I've encountered that Road. I've walked down it. I've crossed it, looking for somewhere else to go or someone else to be. I've explored its tributaries. Sometimes I have been able to keep my feet on it, to walk the directness that the Road represents. Mostly I have found my feet swept out from under me and the Road has taken me by surprise to places where I never thought I'd go, to experience myself in ways that I never thought I could be. An inductee in a cult. A priestess of the Goddess. A priest witnessing other women being ordained. A teacher in Egypt. A lover. A mother. A guide. A friend. So far, I have been blessed to have lived an incredible life. My heart nearly bursts with joy and gratitude. The adventure on this Road continues.

What is your One Road? Where has it led you? Who have you been on it? Who have you met? How do you feel about being on the Road?