A wanderer in a "past life"?

Apr 4, 2008 at 9:38 PM
7 comments

I seem to be concluding that what I am really "intended" to be is a wandering poet, a wandering scholar, or a wandering monk. All three seem so very appealing!

Obviously, the thing they have in common is "wandering." I have always liked travel, and the various means of getting places, and also the challenges of navigation, ever since I was young.

My very earliest memories are of steam engines on the Northwestern railroad tracks. (I kind of hated it when the diesels came in--although it is true that they were "streamlined" and thus potentially very fast).

I could add a lot about my adventures driving, hiking, flying, on boats. Attempting at least to learn about orienteering, and how much I like having a GPS system! Ham radio (which provided a kind of vicarious "travel" to distant places). Etc.

And how much I admire Lewis and Clark, and Marco Polo, in particular. Connie and I actually got married at an important Lewis and Clark site, Great Falls, Montana.

Pilgrimage wall hanging

Anyhow, my friend (who believes in such things, although I don't) would say that these interests represent a "past life" breaking through. So--maybe I am Meriweather Lewis? Although i would have to admit, a far less successful version of that great explorer.

The ways in which the three archetypes differ is in being a scholar, a poet, or a monk. I certainly used to be a true scholar--though I am not much of one any more! I do write some poems, though not many. How many do you have to write to actually be a poet? I am not very religious really, but at the same time I have some attraction to the monastic orders.

Checking all three on the internet, here is their order of popularity in terms of hits:

473,000--wandering poet

342,000--wandering scholar

193,000--wandering monk

So "wandering poet" is the most common formulation. Although the "popularity" of the term wandering poet seems to owe partly to a sake with that name.

I would also like to point out that it is possible to be a wandering "poet-monk," or "scholar-poet," etc. There are a variety of combinations.

Willie Nelson, On the Road Again

Anyhow, it is in this (or these) directions that my strongest interests now do seem to lie.

And like Willie Nelson, I can't wait to get on the road again!

Yes, though I don't aspire to it, there are of course also "wandering musicians."

7 comments

Comments

This post made me smile.... Haqve a great day.

A wanderer of any kind seems such a romantic notion. A friend of my parents once told me I was a "wandering soul" - it worried me a bit at first as it might have implied that I was not terribly responsible; now it seems sort of cool.

Like you (and Willie) I can't wait to get back on the road again - but I have to work a bit first. :-)

I think the common thread to all three is creative exploration - of words, of the world, and of the soul. Thus you are drawn to the new experiences of travel. You do have a way with words; your posts are most enjoyable, and travel does tell you more about the world, and in a way, enriches the soul. How can you not be inspired by the beauty of all that God has made?

[this is good]

Agree with your premise(sp.?) My favourite song is that very one, i thought I'd have it played at my funeral, I"m singing it now in my head.

Did you ever go somewhere that you felt "at home" right away? When I was in the Far East, in Malaysia and Thailand and in the countryside and small towns in Sri Lanka I was so relaxed I almost bought a home there.

DRB2008 replied to Country By Design’s comment:
Apr 22, 2008
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Just want to say how much I appreciate this (and the other) comments about my "wanderer" post. Even though it has taken a long time for me to respond, they are very meaningful to me, and I have thought about them a lot.

"Creative exploration." Yes, it does seem to me such a wonderful thing, in all its varied forms.

Keep "wandering" and writing. I do enjoy reading your posts. Hearing from my Vox neighbors is my favorite part of the day. We are a tad isolated from the world out here. Almost all our phone calls are long distance, and we don't socialize with any of our neighbors. My hubby goes around to see his brother across the road (who is divorced) and our neighbor up on the hill (who's wife stays in town), and a neighbor down the road (who's wife is very ill), and the woman who's land he takes care of, but there is a shortage of females out here in these parts. Gas in too expensive to go visiting unless you have to go shopping, too.

A wanderer in a "past life"?

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