The Journey

I read somewhere that there are basically two types of people: the destination-driven and the journey-driven.  The first tend to take the fast lane because they’re goal-oriented and just want to get where they’ve going in life without stopping to lollygag or take time to smell the roses. 

The latter tend to savor the present moment and seize each new day as it comes.  These take little thought for the future and focus more on the here and now rather than on their destination.

Which type are you?  Destination-driven?   Or journey-driven?

The Journey

Don’t apologize for being strange

and preferring the back roads to

the fast lane.  Besides, it’s safer

to shun the interstate with its fury

of traffic in a hurry to get somewhere,

somehow, if it means pushing you

out of the way.  Better any day to hit

the narrow ribbon of road where no

one behind you is cursing a bitter

stream of words or slamming his horn

in anger as you meander along at your

own pace, humming “Fields of Gold”

with Sting on the radio, while eyeing a

peaceful landscape with its sequence

of sights changing shape as in dreams:

Spanish moss draped over trees like

bearded giants soon become a tower

of pines.  Grazing cows give way to a

barn darkened with age, steepled by

a weather vane.  Clothes hung out on

a line to dry remind you of days long

gone.  A pond of ducks catches your

eye, slows you down to forty, then

thirty-five.  But what the heck, you

think, there’s no real hurry.  You’ll

make it in plenty of time without

worrying, and if you don’t, no sweat.

You’re just grateful for the journey.

 I’ve always enjoyed Sting’s original version of “Fields of Gold,” but I think I like Eva Cassidy’s just as much, if not more.  Eva enjoyed her journey too, but has now reached her destination.     

So which type are you?  Destiny-driven?   Or journey-driven?  Or some of both?

“The Journey” received a poet laureate award, as finalist, from the NC Poetry Society.