The long and winding road..........

We set off in our caravan, full of trepidation. The names of the places we are passing through are unfamilar and threaten our sense of self. Some journeys are undertaken because there is a need to pass from one physical space to another. Some journeys we endure as we run from one cirumstance to find safety in another. Yet other journeys only take place in our minds as we go deeper and deeper into our own selves, trying to discover who we are and where we should be in this world.

It was easier in days gone by. My parents, for example, found the reason for their way of life and what happened to them could be explained by their deeply held religious beliefs. That gave them the strength to endure what could almost not be endured - holocaust, the death of two children, illness and old age. Now, the old signposts are down and instead we have new prophets amongst us and materialism appears to have succeeded as an ideology.

We, who dream, have never been so urgently required. We may be the very travellers who find the key to the meaning of life and the survival of the planet. We have to travel carefully but not too quietly through this land, we must make ourselves heard but not because we are so brash we cannot be ignored. We have to have light minds. A sense of humour is essential - I hear there are mischievous pixies at work in the caravans......but thats no problem, when the survival of life on earth is at stake we need everyone we can find to help us and also to help us to laugh because there will be tears shed because I predict tears before we reach our destination.

The land is beautiful, mountains on the horizon, spakling lakes under blue skies, spring flowers everywhere and trees covered in heavy pink and read blossom - the scent is indescribably sweet in the warm air. I know there are difficult mountain passes ahead of us. That we may be attacked or ambushed. I know there are highwaymen in the area.........I have friends around me and tonight, we will make a camp fire, and cook a communal meal, fresh vegetables and fruit,
someone might sing, or tell us a story. I will have my knitting and will tell a story if I am asked to do so.

Tomorrow we start trekking up into the hills.........