Real Journey

Inspired by Wendell Berry's poem, "Our Real Work":

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

This poem brings to mind another observation made by film-maker David Lynch who said that as we get older, it's not that that life becomes easier to navigate, but rather it's a limiting of imagination. When I think I know exactly what to do, do I necessarily check if it's the right thing to do, or am I just on auto-pilot?

Children struggle with the real work of living constantly as they learn to navigate the rules set forth by whatever culture and society they happen to be growing through. And maybe that's a gift, to be in a place of not knowing still even in old age -- which begs the question, "How can I continue to baffle my mind?"