Dear Friends,
Sending a warm hello from my kitchen island, and wishing I could share with you the aroma of pumpkin bread baking in the oven. I'm writing this on Sunday evening and the rain is falling outside where the temps are on their way to Autumn. A few leaves are beginning to turn. It's the most perfect time of year, and I'm so excited for our Fall groups embarking on island tours!
Last weekend, I hiked with Steve and my sons and, at one point, the path forked and we were trying to figure out which way to go. Of course, I wanted to take the overgrown path, rather than the well worn one, and that brings me to Robert Frost. “The Road Not Taken” has been called the most misread poem in America. I kind of love this. It's really such a study in the human tendency to overthink and overcomplicate, to create problems where there are none or reasons to regret, rather than accept.
I'll get to the real story behind Frost's poem in a minute, but I want to share a snippet of wisdom from a kind of mentor figure who shows up in my dreams occasionally. He's a tiger that talks. And he talks like Deepak Chopra.
In one dream I had years ago, I was going through a series of obstacles and analyzing each one to see what it represents. Tiger Chopra is going along beside me but, unlike me, he moves through effortlessly. In the dream, I climb a mountain and I think "This represents the uphill battle I'm facing in my life and that I need to keep looking for the summit. I was alone (except for Tiger), so that must mean that this is a solitary path, maybe just an inner journey, but of course doesn't our inner stuff always mirror the outer stuff?"
I look to Tiger for approval and he has no reaction.Next, I have to swing through the tops of trees using a series of connected vines and, sometimes I jump before the vine appears for me to grab. I think, "I just need to keep taking the next step, even if I don't see a way to get from one goal to another. As long as I keep trusting, the way will keep appearing. Sometimes I get scrapes and cuts, but in the end, it all works out"
Again, Tiger Chopra is non responsive. In fact, he looks bored.
Next, we come to a murky pond and I must swim across. Tiger is already to the other side before I even wade in. I'm not sure if there are alligators or leeches or anything else, so I swim fast. When I scramble out of the water on the other side and begin my inner analysis about what water means in a dream and how the murkiness must represent a lack of clarity in my life. Tiger Chopra interrupts before I can even gather my thoughts."
Sometimes a pond is just a pond," he says.
I call after Tiger..."Oh."
Even in my dream, I felt silly. I had been so lost in thoughts and analysis rather than enjoying the climb up the mountain, swinging through the trees...who gets to swing through trees? It was fabulous.
Just to add insult to injury, Tiger turns his head toward me before he disappears,
"Sometimes a mountain is just a mountain."
"Got it," I answered a little too quickly.
Because I really didn't get it. Not yet. I woke up trying to break down the whole experience. Obviously, Tiger Chopra is telling me I overthink everything, spend too much time on reflection and not enough time being in the moment, too much time second guessing and not enough time enjoying.
Oops, then I got it.
Now back to "The Road Not Taken." The story is, and we all know stories are true, is that Frost frequently went walking with his friend, Edward Thomas, and Thomas was always indecisive about which path to take (my Mother was this way too so I sympathize) and, he frequently had regrets that they should have walked a different way. Frost wrote it as a cheeky jab to his friend, but complained later that he had read it to an audience of college students and, even though he read it with some humor, they had taken it very seriously, so seriously in fact, that it took on a life of its own. A poem he had written on a whim grew legs and started walking...taking several paths. With all the various interpretations, there seems to be no road left untaken.
A poem that was originally somewhat simple became the most questioned and contemplated in this country's history. We do have to keep ourselves busy with something.
What does any of this have to do with Scotland? Maybe nothing or maybe everything. It's best not to overthink. In any case, I look forward to experiencing simple joys with you on a future tour. I won't ask you to analyze a thing.
And I'd absolutely love to have you on my Women's Tour...a relaxed journey with a small group of kindred spirits, sharing the sites, tales and Scottish friends I love most with you. Click for deets. Booking closes soon.
Wishing you all the blessings of the Autumn breezes.
xo,
Raven
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