We shall not cease from exploration

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time". T. S. Eliot
This kept coming to mind yesterday, on a silent morning at our house, and a question about where a journey begins and what about the influences on the way, especially people.
It's interesting the things that come up on a silent morning! There were 5 of us, enjoying the delights of the sunshine (before the rain). Some went for a walk after we meditated together, some read and I wrote, but at the end when we each feedback, there is always a thread that links each person's perceptions and observations together. I find that really magical! Here's what I wrote

Where does a journey begin?

Where does a journey begin?
Is it with this next footstep, crossing over this threshold?
Or does it track back to what got me here?
Does it begin afresh each morning?
Or is it a culmination of many footsteps, leading to this door?
Is there a moment I can pinpoint and say,
'now this is where the journey began'?
But what about what went before?
Does it begin afresh each lifetime?
Or is it a culmination of many lives?
How many lifetimes have I been on this path?
Is it a moment of awakening?
Or the steps that led up to that moment?
Does it begin afresh each moment?
Or is it a culmination of many moments?
Was it a particular person that opened a particular door?
Or a sound that was heard and responded to?
Was it you, was it you, that set my journey off?
Does it begin afresh with each person?
Or is it a culmination of many people walking together?
Is this one journey, one path that I am on?
Or have I meandered from one to another,
attracted by the flowers or scents caught along the way?
Does it begin afresh with each stepping stone?
Or is it a culmination of many paths?
Is it a straight path?
Or does it twist and wind continuously,
so that the way ahead is unclear, and the destination unseen?
Does it begin afresh at each crossroad?
Or is it a culmination of many meetings?
Looking back, I see people I have walked with,
some for many years, and others a shorter time,
some are still beside me, and others lost in the mists of time.
Does it begin afresh each meeting?
Or is it a culmination of many people coming together?
Those people I carry in my heart, as clearly as a photo in a wallet,
because they have made a contribution to this journey.
Does it begin afresh with each person?
Or is it a culmination of a team moving together?
To those that have walked with me, I thank you,
to those still walking, I bow to you in gratitude,
to those waiting ahead, yet unknown, I greet you.
Does it begin afresh with each moment?
Or is it a culmination of many moments?
Where did this journey begin?
Like Eliot, will I recognise it, at its ending and know it afresh?
It is enough that it has begun.

© 6 July 2012

Many questions, and not so many answers. Something that came from yesterday morning's meeting was whether we can be comfortable with the unknown, the unnamed. Being mindful, being present is about accepting what is, and sometimes that may be not knowing, but who would want to know everything anyway?! There is a vitality about learning new things, having new experiences, so that stepping into the unknown suddenly seems not only interesting but necessary. Today, do something you have never done before. Take a different way home or speak to someone you don't know, do something outrageous!