Wandering and the Human Spirit

Life is a choice. Everyone learns this as they go through it, with first their parents making choices for them, but before someone's second year of life they begin deciding things for themselves. What they like, what they don't like, what they want to play with. As a person grows older, this decision making process turns into something that means much more for the person making the decisions for them. Every decision seems for crucial then any that came before. It is a conscious choice of humankind that we are this way; we worry and ponder over things gone by, and things coming to us in the future. As Nagler shows in the Story of Eileen Egan, who at 79 was mugged and then forgave her assailant, there are many paths one can walk, many divergences that one can have. There's no telling in a Kindergarten class which children will grow to be nuclear scientists, philosophers, or high-school dropouts. These ends are decided later on, through influences on one's life and the outcomes of countless other situations.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Everyone has examples of what certain choices will bring to their lives, through parents, grandparents, friends, or all of the above. They also have choices set before them that they may be unsure of, that they have no idea what the outcome will be. These choices are key in any person's development as a human being. "Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Had I not taken the road less traveled, broken from my family history of going straight to full-time work right after high school, I would not be writing this paper, and I would certainly not be in Northern Maine. It was a conscious choice on my part to leave the path. In doing such, I have forged a path for my younger siblings to travel, in hopes of improving the quality of life for them, and in turn, future generations.

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart." The choices that people make tend to be very close to the heart. They have to be; otherwise, people wouldn't be making them. In anything someone endeavors to do, though, they should throw themselves into it wholeheartedly, because if they don't, chances are it won't be exactly what they want. There's no point to start college if you're not going to do the work. This is a lesson most people, including me, learn the harsh way, with a slap in the face from reality. Confucius acquiesces that people will go places, and make choices-he emphasizes that there should be effort, thought, and self put into it.

"All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost." Sometimes, a person's choice is to wander. Wandering is not aimless, nor is it a lack of effort. People as a rule need to explore without purpose to find a purpose. A generalization can't be made about someone if they haven't decided where they want to go, or what choice they wish to make. A break from reality is necessary on occasion, so as not to lose grip on sanity. Wanderings of the mind are especially crucial to a person's well being. Without those tangents, no one would have the insight to see that they have a choice, that there are several paths-and they can forge new ones.

Through wanderings, choices, and effort, we all become part of life. The effort that is put into everything comes back to the giver. Without choice, life couldn't exist.

People choose to be spiritual beings. Regardless of one's belief in a god, this remains true. Ideals of honor, justice, and ethics are not scientifically justifiable. The world can be split into two part, spirituality and science (Hobbes). I have a friend who was an electrical engineering major at U Maine Orono, a very scientific field of study. He held himself to an incredibly strict moral code, with high ideals of honor and respect, everything you would expect in a knight of the medieval era. Is it so unbelievable, then, that humans define themselves through spirituality? Let's take a look at the top movies of all time. In looking at the list by the American Film Institute, we see movies centered on morality, tragedy, love, and hate. Do any of these hold scientific value? Our society is more spiritual than it cares to admit.

Spirituality is not always a good thing; it has its good and bad, just like people do. People can be misled in their spirituality, and decide that the world is going to end, and join a suicide cult. This is still spiritual and not scientific, though.

Without spirituality, how many less colleges would there be in the world? There wouldn't be a real point to going to college, except to learn, and no one would grow as an individual. How is that something to look forward to? Students who are in college rarely attend religious services. They still need the benefits of spirituality to survive. College is where most people gain the courage to question what they've been brought up to believe (Vento).

Strictly from my own experience, college students feel no need to attend religious services. The ideals that were forced on many of us growing up don't make sense any more and we're searching to find our own way through life without the crutch of 'god'. How does this bring us back to wandering? When one wanders, searching for their respective truths, one studies many avenues. Some people study eastern religions, others begin depending solely on spirituality in themselves through honor and other idealistic views.

We've wandered through pondering and touched on how people cope, and my conclusion is this: without some form of spirituality human beings would not, and could not exist.

Nagler, Michael N. Is There No Other Way? The Search for a Nonviolent Future. Berkeley Hills Books. 2001.
Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman (Rabbi), and Smith, Huston. "Spirituality in Education: A Dialogue". The Heart of Learning. (no date)
Vento, Jenn. "Students fine spirituality in tradition". The New Hampshire Friday. February 14, 1997.