"not all who wander are lost"

-J.R.R. Tolkien-

in less than two months, i'll be wandering again. this time i head to the slopes. breckenridge, colorado. a move prompted by feelings of stagnation here in chicago. i came across this quote while reading my latest issue of the The Week (a great mag for those with little time to read news). it of course triggered self-reflection. do i wander because i'm lost?

wandering about in all senses of the word, physically, emotionally, metaphorically, affords a certain amount of protection. there is never finality to a decision made. a mind can always change. no need to decide where to hang a picture. just have to take it down in a few months. so the walls are bare. can't make a wrong decision while living the life of a nomad. turn back. call for a mulligan. do it over, just some place else. a person always on the move can make an easy excuse for not getting close to others. 'what's the point of becoming attached? i'm moving away eventually and it'll hurt less if i stay aloof.' it's always easier to deal with things on the short term.

do i wander because i'm lost? probably. it's the journey, not the destination. lost or not, this is my journey.

invisible ties

"For a brief instant they met in another dimension, defenseless, naked in body and mind...he had never lost control in that way, lost irony, distance, the notion of his own inviolable individuality to fuse so simply with another human being." -excerpted from Portraits in Sepia by Isabella Allende

i don't know what it is that keeps you so far.

did you like the chocolate? the orchids are beautiful.