Wanderlust

I know I've heard the term before but today it just struck me more than ever before. Wanderlust. I have it. It's the thing inside of me that is always wanting something more. Not in a "I'll never be happy with what I've got" kind of way but in an excited wonder at what else might be out there. It's that feeling you got as a kid where you wondered what mysterious and amazing things were out in the world - yet to be discovered. That part of you that was still able to believe that reindeer might fly and that maybe somewhere in your garden there were fairies. It's the feeling that is spilling out of movies I watched as a kid like Goonies and E.T.. As an adult the dynamic has changed so that most days I don't believe in those things but still there is an ever pumping chamber of my heart that wonders as what I might yet find - in the glory of this world and others - and of what path I am destined to travel. I really and truly believe that marvelous and fantastic things can happen. That's not a "gee that's great" fantastic but a "filled with magic and wonder" fantastic. I think that is the feeling that powers greatness. The feeling that leads explorers around this globe and back, that pushes inventors to try one more configuration, and that leads truth seekers to God. That's why I don't think I could ever work in a cubicle. There is little chance of discovery there. Unless you discovered that underneath your desk was a tunnel to some magical place. That is also why I've always wanted to live in an old town. New suburbs don't seem capable of magic. Maybe I just need to write a story in which they are. But old places seem to have a power gained from all of the people that passed by them or resided inside them. There has got to be some power or at least sacred reverence in places where people lived - feeling deep emotions, struggling through and overcoming adversity, or even brushing their teeth and taking a bath. It gives me a sort of buzz to know I am showering in a bathtub that people have been bathing in for 80 years. Every single on of them planning out their lives and hoping for more. It does make it a little less romantic when I know that for the last four years it was single male college students. Sick! Anyhow, some people get bothered by people with wanderlust but I happen to think they are suppossed to feel it and when we try to suppress it it only leads to depression or unhealthly outlets that lead to addictions. So, if your heart wants to take you somewhere - pack your bags and go for it!

"When your heart speaks, take good notes."
— Judith Campbell

**8/23 update Got an email from Sundance catalog for this fall - their theme for the season is "Follow your Wanderlust". Boy, Sundance had me at hello. That canyon (North Fork) happens to be my most favorite place on the planet.