I love to travel.  One of my earliest travel memories is of a trip to White Sands, New Mexico.  I have a vague recollection of scooping up as many of the powdery white grains of sand as my tiny two-year-old hands could manage and squealing with delight as I tossed my little fistfuls into the air.  Of course, there are also the clearer and fonder memories of my family’s annual trips to the beach where I spent sun-drenched days playing in the surf and sand, and Solarcaine-drenched nights on my stomach recovering from the day’s sunburn.

I consider these trips to be journeys of “place.”  The journey of place takes us to a physical location.  It can involve traveling near or far.  The family vacation to the mountains.  That long-awaited trip-of-a-lifetime out of the country.  It can be local.  The daily commute to the office.  A trip to the grocery store.  Or simply hanging out in the family room at home.

Beyond place, there is the journey of “time.”  The journey of time can pertain to a certain minute or hour on the daily clock or a specific point in time on the calendar.  It may encompass a particular stage in life.

There is also the journey of “circumstance.”  The journey of circumstance involves unique situations or experiences, such as the transition from adolescence to adulthood, the birth of a child, or a new career opportunity.  The unexpected financial crisis.  The death of a loved one.  The diagnosis of a life-threatening illness.

The road along which the journeys of place, time, and circumstance converge and intersect is the journey we call life.  They are the smooth patches of pavement, the bumps, the potholes, and the detours we encounter as we travel life’s highway.

There is another journey.  One that runs parallel to the others.  It is not necessarily bound by place, time or circumstance, but is influenced by all the others.  It is the journey within.  The journey within provides an exit ramp off the main highway of life and a way to experience life beneath the surface.  It offers us the chance to look past the façade of everyday life, the chance to look past the situation at hand to find the true meaning of the moment and how it fits into the big picture.  The journey within offers the gift of perspective.  It is a place where, if you search deep enough, you can find light in the darkness and faith amidst doubt.  It is a place where you can find hope and love.

We each have our own life’s journey.  And, while each of our journeys is unique to us, our paths will converge and intersect with the journeys of others.  No one can personally experience or fully understand another’s journey; however, we can certainly learn from and lean on one another as we each traverse our own path.

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson