The journey

Can an outward journey lead to an inward journey?
Can we find what we are looking for outside ourselves?

Sometimes a journey to a land far off awakens a dormant part of us
Helps us see with new eyes and enables us to walk a different walk

Sometimes we need to leave the familiar behind
To be faced with uncertainty and unfamiliarity
To appreciate what we already have

Sometimes hearing others’ point of view
Can make us question our assumptions and make us think
It can make us go deeper in the inward journey

And sometimes to journey inward
One need not go anywhere
One needs to open one’s heart
To look with a searching eye
To listen to unspoken words
To live a conscious life

Sometimes the inward journey happens at home
In familiar surroundings, but unfamiliar territory

Both kinds of journey require a thirst for knowledge
A desire for adventure
and being open to change and growth

The outward journey
If it doesn’t lead to an inward journey
Hasn’t fulfilled its potential
It’s the inward journey that transforms us

Lida Berghuis
August 25th, 2015