For a long time, I looked at life as a road, a journey, with a starting point and a destination.
I often spoke about the crossroads, all of those moments when you need to make a choice. Is it left or right? Will I carry on on the straight road ahead…
It all made sense. The goals, the small steps toward them.
I have also been looking at life as an ecosystem, weeds and all, we need it all, the balance that it needs to thrive and survive.
Then I read something attributed to the great Kurt Vonnegut.
“Life is a garden, not a road. We enter and exit through the same gate. Wandering, where we go matters less than what we notice.”
And it spoke to me. This constant trying to get somewhere, we miss out on what is around us.
As I write this, I am looking at our small garden, and I can see many things worth noticing.
Interestingly, this is one of the principles I have in the One Hour Holiday (yes, the book is still being written!!!): to stop, notice, and pay attention to the small things around us.
I will go with Kurt’s view of the world – whether the quote is actually his or has been attributed to him, less of the road and more of the garden.
One line that is definitely his is from A Man Without a Country, and says it all about him:
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.”
#philosophising #Coaching #listening #learning #reading #writing
#onehourholiday
