The Path We are On...

The Path We are On - Outer Hebrides

  I recently heard of an idea, which turned out to be one of those urban myths by the way, that our body replaces all the trillions of cells we have every seven years.  Of course, that isn't exactly true.  Some cells never die off, like the neurons in our brain, and some die off very rabidly and are replaced.  The point of this post is not to discuss biology but to mull over the idea that we are constantly in the process "reformation".  In a very real sense, we are not exactly the same person we were yesterday and in 7 years - if you want to use that time frame - we will be significantly altered, biologically speaking at least.

   Now that little tidbit of information/misinformation got me thinking about the old phrase, "the seven year itch". (This is how my mind works...one thing leads to another and another!)  I then realized that I had begun my re-discovery of photography a little over seven years ago in the Outer Hebrides.  I can safely say, cells or not, I'm not the same photographer today that I was back then.  I've been on a path of self discovery that has led me to where I am right now and, thankfully, the journey isn't over yet.

Janus, god of Gates and Doorways

   The beginning of the new year is a great time to reflect, and like the Roman god Janus (from whose name we get the month "January") we should look both forward and backward. I choose the photograph above for this post because, like the paths we are all on, we cannot see what lies over the hill.  Clearly, people have walked this way before (footprints are always reassuring) but there is always that apprehension of the unknown.  Do we keep walking or do we turn back?  Where we have been always seems safer that the unknown that awaits just over the hill and out of sight but without the mystery our lives would be a meaningless tedium of "sameness".

   Now, I must admit to a recently acquired "seven year itch".  I've been so directed to travel the last seven  years that it seemed as if  I am always planning for or just returning from some major overseas adventure...always traveling eastward.  Now, I've acquired the desire to explore closer to home...to leave the "big" trips for later.  I need a hiatus.  So, in 2013 I will plan a series of driving trips around New England and Eastern Canada.  The path I'm now on will take some sharp turns...North and South and West.  What will I find? What is waiting to be discovered?   Who knows but I'm itching to get going!