City Walks

"It's dangerous business... going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

J.R.R. Tolkien

I've taken to walking the streets of Melbourne, occasionally jumping on a tram when it's convenient. I walk with no great goal or destination in mind. Sure there are things I desire to do, but my time table is such that I am in no great hurry to do them.

There is something about the steady rhythm of walking that calms me. When facing the unknown, and the uncertainty it brings, walking is a way of finding direction, focus, and courage. It is something that allows for doing, for action, but also for listening, for being. And I must say, in a city such as Melbourne, you never know what you'll come across!

Melbourne is meant for the walker. It's lane ways are enticing, varied, and ever present. If ever you think you know which direction you're headed, enter a lane way, and you will surely lose all sense of it. It is a wonder to me that some shops are ever found, hidden as they are behind bends and turns. I was taken to a little cafe, not long ago, that might as well have been behind a dumpster, it was so buried. Do not ask me to take you there, I will not likely find it. It's okay, there is another fabulous cafe just around the corner, I promise.

Today, my walking took me to the pier in Port Arlington, located an hour's drive around the bay from the city of Melbourne. It is a small, bogan* town, that holds quite a lot of character, and a certain Australian charm that you won't find in the city. My small adventure to the port reminded me of the huge journey I had recently undertaken.

It amazes me that I must consciously remind myself that I am, indeed, on an adventure. How often are we on one and don't even realize it? Caught up in the details of creating a life. We must remember to, every now and then, perhaps when we gain the slightest bit of courage or insight, choose to go on one. It makes all the difference.

Adventures are scary, formidable and exciting things. They're like a test you've studied for, you are ready for, but when the time comes, you're woefully unprepared for. Even so, you push forward with the information you have on hand. Failure is a possibility, but never a certainty.

I'm slowly ticking off the questions.

*Bogan: Australian equivalent of Redneck.