Encounters on the Open Road

Journeys of  discovery

Throughout the ages, writers have found the journey a powerful metaphor for thinking about and describing life changing experiences. Homer’s Ulysses journeyed back from Troy; Chaucer’s pilgrims traveled from inn to inn; Melville’s Ishmael set sail with Captain Ahab to kill the white wale; Mark Twain’s Huck Finn rafted down the Mississippi.  Tolkien's hobbits Frodo and Sam left the shire for Rivendell and Mordor.  

An event common to all these travel books is the encounter of the traveler with a stranger or some strange event. As the encounter unfolds, we find the traveler risking a genuine confrontation with some aspect of the human condition, or making a life changing decision, or in some way revealing his or her deepest thoughts and feelings. 

This weekly blog is an invitation to an encounter on the open road where one can confront some aspect of life and think about what it means to be alive. 

The tone will be conversational, thoughtful, playful, joyful, sad, inspiring and troubling.    

I’m educated as an existential thinker, a psychologist and a psychotherapist and my life’s work has been in these fields. A fundamental concern of this work is the uniquely human quality of being aware of one’s existence and feeling responsible for the gift of life that each of us is given. We ask ourselves the questions: Am I living the life I want to live?  How am I connecting with people and society? How am I finding meaning and purpose in my life? How much of who I am  is determined by others; how much by my own creative powers? Am I open to experiencing life in all its dimensions? If you have found yourself  asking questions such as these and enjoy good conversation about important issues, you should find this blog  of interest. I invite you to join the conversation, raise issues and share your thoughts.  

Question established beliefs and assumptions

I hope this blog encourages people to question established beliefs and assumptions, not   to prove them wrong but to understand how we come to believe what we believe, think what we think and  do what we do. I’m not out to change anyone or to tell  people what to do and what to believe. My role is to throw some light on the ups and downs, ins and outs of  being a human being, a creature who has the capacity to ask who am I and what is  life all about?  

Don't rock the boat - be happy, don't worry

Here is a problem to consider and I believe this problem is particularly relevant to people in Sammamish. Don't rock the boat. Be happy, don’t worry. Go with the flow. Don’t think so much. Sammamish is the realization of the  American dream. Money Magazine rates  the city of Sammamish the 11th best place to live in the United States. When one lives  in paradise, one should be content. Life can't  get better than this. Sit down, don’t rock the boat. 

I am betting that there are quite a few people who can't help it; they will stand up and rock the boat a little. An authentic life begins with the feeling of being lost and the question: Am I living a life worth living? From time to time, one just has to stand up and rock the boat, take some risks, stop going with the flow.  

Come back,  join the conversation

There is a thin line between awe and apprehension - joy and sorrow - feeling at home and feeling lost. 

Sit down don’t rock the boat
Don’t worry be happy
Life is beautiful
Life is Ugly