Journey and Destination

The aim of life is not to arrive at the grave quietly in a well preserved body,but to slide in sideways shouting, "holy shit what a ride!". At least that's how George Carlin saw it. And George Carlin was not a flawed individual. In any way.

My friend and I had the journey vs. destination discussion again today. Last time it was a pretty serious conversation. I was thinking about the destination, my friend was more concerned with the journey. My friend opened my eyes. It's journey time for me. That much should have been obvious from the beginning. I didn't just get off one crazy train just to get on the first one that pulled into the station. No matter how perfect it seemed, there were no tickets. Not yet anyway. But I'll be first in line when they are.

But the journey vs. destination discussion doesn't end there. It can't. Too many applications. Drinking, sex, riding, careers, relationships...why do we do it? For the journey or the destination? What about addictions? Are they present because of the journey they provide...or the destination? And for that matter, what about life in general? Does it exist for the journey or the destination?

The pendulum is always swinging. Physics dictates that a pendulum will only swing as long as friction does not slow it down. Check it out. Seriously, at ASU there is this big pendulum that swings in the physical sciences building. It's like 2 stories high, and because the Earth's rotation does not affect it, it spins around on it's vertical axis once every 24 hours. So, they set up these little weights under the pendulum, like dominos, at certain angles underneath its impending path. As the Earth spins, the pendulum stays in the same place, like a gyroscope. Every so often, to prove how powerful a pendulum is, it knocks down one of the weights, and keeps moving. Pendulums are powerful, but susceptible to friction. That's why we have to wind our watches, power our clocks. If we don't the pendulum will stop. Effort. That's what keeps the pendulums swinging. Without effort, the pendulum will stop.

There are many pendulums in our lives. The spiritual pendulum. The physical pendulum. The mental pendulum. So many pendulums within us. Waxing and waning, like the phases of the moon. So I ask you...what is happiness? The ability to control those pendulums? Stop them from swinging? Or learning to ride them, like a child on a bike with the wind in her hair, finding the harmony in their inevitable dissonance? What about when two sets of pendulums come together? What if one set swings wider than the other? Should the less-developed pendulum dictate what the more developed one should do? I think not. To shackle yourself to a less developed pendulum is to sell yourself short. Why would anyone shut themselves off just to be with someone who can't understand why? Well...I did. For 10 years. 10 YEARS. If you couldn't figure it out in 10 years...buh bye.

I don't care where the pendulums are in other people's lives. They just are. Everyone has many pendulums, swinging inside. There are many pendulums that make up what you are. If you can't figure out what that means, at least humor me, but go back to school, and call me when you graduate. In the meantime, this train has left the station. This flight has left the runway. Journey vs. destination? Who cares. Journey AND destination...both are important. One without the other is like Thelma without Louise. Laurel without Hardy. Batman without Robin. Wallace without Ladmo.

Journey without Destination. Destination without Journey. How crazy is that? Embrace them both. Run with both. Don't ignore one for the other.

Journey vs. Destination is a false dichotomy.

To live for both is to really live. To really LIVE.