Photo by kavram
It’s funny what a little introspection and journal-keeping will do to awaken memories and echoes of insights and breakthroughs from the past. Not long ago, I found myself digging out a song that spoke to me the last time I spent this much time looking inward.
It’s from the band Orleans, and it’s titled “The Path.” The song comes from the band’s 1976 album “Waking and Dreaming,” the LP that gave the world the song “Still the One.” You can sample a short section of “The Path” by clicking on the link above.
(I’ve caught a lot of grief over the years for liking Orleans. For one thing, some have designated the album cover of “Waking and Dreaming” to be one of the worst ever, something you can easily read and see in detail with a quick Google search. Also, they’re from the ’70s, which is routinely regarded as a lost decade musically. But, every now and then, their songs contained wonderful nuggets of wisdom, or at least something thought-provoking. A World Literature class I had in high school was a de facto philosophy class at times, and much more than that, and our teacher encouraged us to bring in music with lyrics that spoke to themes we discussed in class. “Waking and Dreaming” was one of my take-to-class LPs. But enough of the disclaimer: I do get teased for enjoying Orleans, and I’m OK with that. If it’s a guilty pleasure, I don’t feel all that guilty about it.)
The point of view in the song “The Path” speaks to someone from the narrator’s life, someone with whom he had a relationship. It describes a wisdom experience can give us:
Standing on a mountaintop, I never saw a trace of you
So it’s not true higher is the better view
You’ll never know the details of the search you put me through
Since the day we kissed and came apart
I’ve been searching for something, thought it was you
I’ve been searching for something I couldn’t put a name to
Searching for something different at the start
That set me on a path of my own heart
I’ve been through valleys deeper than I ever knew
And waters, too, that I’d have to cross for you
I’ve been on this road so long I think it must be true
That the journey’s end is just another start
I’ve been searching for something, thought it was you
I’ve been searching for something I couldn’t put a name to
Searching for something different at the start
That set me on a path of my own heart
And now I see the hungers that sent me far and wide
Can only feed, they can only feed on what I have inside
And I’ve been searching for something, thought it was you
I’ve been searching for something I couldn’t put a name to
Searching for something different at the start
That set me on a path of my own heart
Been searching for something, I thought it was you
I’ve been searching for something I couldn’t put a name to
Searching for something different at the start …
The line that is the title of this post describes a realization I’ve seen others make, including this site:
While we have only just arrived, I am fascinated by this area in a way I have not felt in a long time, and I am just starting to look into the many places we plan to explore on the island. The first part of this journey is behind us now, but a new journey is just beginning, and I am looking forward to seeing where it leads us
Source: When one journey ends, another begins | all points in between
It’s a nice coincidence that the piece linked above is about the Pacific Northwest, where I now live, and includes a stop at Mount St. Helens, which I love to visit.
And here’s another reference to one journey ending and another starting:
Today we put to rest one journey—and we celebrate that, but we awaken to a new one. As we enter the realm of the educated elite, we should not be elitist in our living. May our humility be remembered in the use of our education as the practice of freedom.
Source: Graduate English Oration: “One Journey’s End is Another’s Beginning” | Harvard Magazine
The subject line of this post aside, what these lyrics in toto meant to me all those years ago is relevant today: So much of the meaning we expect to find from others, especially “the one,” comes from within us, in the moments of discovery about ourselves on life’s journey. I wasn’t involved with someone at the time, but I was looking, and this song reminded me that searching for someone to make everything right was not the answer.
That reminder, at just the right time, set me on a path of my own heart. I’m back on it again. It’s another start.