Dealing with Detours on our Creative Journey

We've been on the road again. This time visiting my husband's family and man is it a long drive. There are very few times in life anymore however that I get the time to sit and do nothing and so although it's long I do rather look forward to the downtime the journey, and a few detours or road construction brings.

Which makes me think about other journey's, like the one you and I are on. It's a personal journey with ups and downs, but I think rarely do we stop and think about as a journey. When we do we're frustrated by where we are, or our inability to read the map or even find the map.

I know that I need to remember that sometimes making no forward progress, and taking the opportunity that sitting still and reflecting is, allows us to discover where we are in the journey. For instance I took a class recently and many of the artists were frustrated by their inability to settle down and concentrate on just one aspect of their art. Because I was there just a few years ago and recognize the frustration I realized that they were someplace important to their journey. They were trying and discovering who and what they were interested in artistically. In the midst of it you feel as if you've been traveling for ages but really it's still the beginning. You're doing the work now, that will allow you to go on from there confident, experienced and well traveled.

Sitting in the car I'm thinking about this and wishing I could encourage those who are in that part of their journey. I've only just past that part, I found my wire and fabric, and I know because of past experience that although I feel I've come far and feel as if I must be at the mid point of my journey, that how you feel is deceptive and I still could just be in another stage of that beginning.

The point is that we are on a journey. We are traveling toward something and not sitting at home reading the postcards others have sent us. We are out there, discovering new things, maybe experiencing a detour or two , but still we are journeying.

But today's lesson remains, as I sit here in the car with my Soy Sugar Free Vanilla Coffee Frappucino (another detour story there) that it is important to sometimes set it on cruise, or pull over and check the map and realize where we are, how far we've come, and that we're traveling towards something.