The Trail

by Ethan Gallogly

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

“Pain is temporary, quitting is forever.”

“So lawns were basically just a way to show off?” “Yup, just like the tail on the peacock’s ass.”

It was striking how much things changed when viewed from different perspectives.

When you walk, you see all the details, but from a moving vehicle everything’s a blur. Maybe it was the same with life? Maybe what people really needed was a good slowing down?

“Do nothing and nothing will be left undone,”

As Barbara Tuchman said, Books are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.”

“When Thoreau left society to build his cabin in the woods, he wrote, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life.”

“Maybe that’s what Pop saw in Thoreau—being out here really reveals what’s important. You know, I’ve felt more alive on this trip than my whole life since college.”

“So you do believe in God?” I asked gently. “Not in the sense of any scripture, but I do feel an awe and reverence—that there’s something more, something spiritual that lies beyond our senses and imagination.”

“That reminds me of the story of the man who went to see a great shaman about his incurable disease. The shaman prepared a special remedy for him, but just before administering it, said, This medicine will only work, if when you swallow it, you’re not thinking of a monkey.”

When someone dies, the only thing we’re left with is the choice of whether to focus on the gap in our lives or to celebrate the joy they’ve left behind.

Prolonged grieving over a loved one is just attempting to cling to something that’s gone, but the joy that they’ve brought us is something that can fill our hearts forever.”

“If I were to change one thing about our school system,” said Syd, “it would be to extend the day to six in the evening, when most parents get home from work. From three to six, students would do supervised homework under the guidance of teaching interns. That way in the evening, parents could spend quality time with their children, instead of pushing them to do homework. And children whose parents weren’t experts in a particular subject, would still be able to get the support they needed—leveling the playing field for all children.”

“Laozi said, When there is no desire, all things are at peace.”

Whenever we chase feelings, we run the risk of being trapped by them. The thing that gives us pleasure becomes an addiction.”

“By just letting the waves of feelings roll over you. Acknowledge them. Enjoy the good, suffer the bad, but realize that they are all just feelings, like waves of water. Don’t try to cling to them or chase after them. Just accept them as they naturally ebb and flow.”

Maybe all philosophical musings were just attempts to express with words what words never could express?

The meaning of life is simply to be present during the journey. There is no goal, just the path.”