Not All

I sometimes see the bumper sticker slogan, "Not all who wander are lost." I agree with that sentiment. To be lost implies a definite direction. But it seems to me that at most we have a more of a general drift than defined direction, most people seem, on the surface at least, to simply go with the dominant social flow. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that -- sometimes it's based on the primal wisdom of survival. But sometimes some people choose a different path, sometimes even a path they cannot see, and it works out for the best, for them. As Alan Watts (I think) said somewhere, just because one goose heads off in a different direction does not necessarily mean that the rest of the flock is going in the right direction, only that there are two chosen directions. Even more with people, because our inner worlds and needs can sometimes be very diverse indeed.

I think the opposite bumper sticker would be appropriate too: "Not all who are lost are wanderers." Speaking from my own experience and perhaps presumptuously thinking it applies to others, it's possible to get stuck in the rut carved by the majority, even when that path is not the best for that person. Sometimes, perhaps often, they stay, and as long as they stay in that rut they are as lost, perhaps more lost, from their inner selves than any person wandering the uncharted wilderness would be.

The path should never be the goal, nor should it be deemed the only way to go.

IMHO

GL