Wandering Without a Map

As usual +nomad dimitri gets me wondering, mulling over one of those delightful contradictions in personality. How is it that I’m such a proponent of serendipity, of being open to things we are not in search of, and yet so unable to do as he does and wander without a map?

So many conflicting stories. Which should I tell? Perhaps it all comes down to my answer when asked why I wanted to move to Japan. The questioner was asking, “Why Japan?” I answered a different question. “Why move?”

I don’t want to experience a place as a tourist. I need to live in it; I need to learn the feel and rhythms of a place by walking the same streets in different times and seasons. This is one of the reasons I miss mountains on my horizons. Mountains could not be more steadfast and unmoving and yet in the changing light and shadows they are constantly transformed.