Wherever the Wind Takes Me – At Principle Gallery
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
–Martin Buber, The Legend of the Baal-Shem (1955)
Wasn’t planning on posting anything today but a song popped into mind and I thought I would share it. Not sure that it fully lines up with the painting or the words of Martin Buber at the top, which do mesh well together. The idea of secret destinations, of arriving at a point that is unexpected, is the basis for the story of many life journeys, after all.
How many of us can say our lives ended up exactly where we thought they would be when we first set out? And for those who did arrive exactly where they intended, I don’t know whether to envy or pity them. There’s something to be said for the security of sticking precisely to your set course. On the other hand, that insinuates that will travel unchanged throughout your long journey, that your desires and values won’t be shaken up and reorganized by things encountered along the way. That you won’t at some point realize that where you thought you wanted to arrive then was not the same as it is now.
For myself, it’s pretty obvious that I never had a real plan, a true set course to any destination. And though at times it’s been hard, and that even now, though my journey is much closer to its end than its beginning, I still am not sure where it will ultimately take me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here’s that song. It’s another gem from that perfect coupling of artist and composer, Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. From 1966, this is Trains and Boats and Planes.
Redtree Times 
I feel this fits with my own life’s journey … as I was born in Canada, took a job in Japan and ended up now living in the UK after meeting my now husband in the far east. Intended? No. Perhaps a moment as suggested by your line from Buber or a Robert Frost … road less taken one. Not sure but I do believe I wouldn’t change anything. Love the teaming of Bacharach and Warwick and think perhaps after my move it was friends and family back in Canada that thought I was “taken away”. Missing loved ones is always the hardest part of long journeys.
Changing anything along the way alters the final outcome of your journey. If we’re pleased with where our journeys ultimately took us, we should realize that it is the result of every action taken and decision made along the way, both good and bad. And others, even those we love, will almost always view our journey through their own prism.
Thank you for your response and vision. I think part of all of it also has to do with ageing and seeing what our decisions have done to the paths we’ve taken. Distance and the passage of time though have also meant less time spent with loved ones.