And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

—T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

We use the word 'journey' to describe life very often, but it seems to me, that what we really do is see life as a series of stops or destinations. The moment a child is born, parents mark the stops: crawling, walking, running... then comes schooling, you finish schooling, the child is already thinking of the next stop, university, job, etc. Then there are the other life stops like marriage, kids, property, etc. Then you might be planning for your kids' stops in turn and your own ones at work: titles, annual appraisals, transitions, and what not. You are always thinking of the next stop in a way. What would it even mean to truly experience life as a journey? I suppose it's not just a question of how I as an individual can do that when we are living in systems and structures that force us to plan for and orient ourselves to stops. I cannot do as I please at least when it comes to things outside of my own personal ambit and control. I may not want to think of a next step but not thinking about it won't make it go away or make it any easier for me. I could literally miss the bus. Like if a child does not go to university, a lot of things could become outside of their reach. If a person does not save for retirement, they may not be allowed to continue the job to support themselves. In many ways it does not seem like we 'choose' to think of stops. The question might be how do you not let this stop orientation overwhelm the experience of your journey perhaps? How to not let the stops you have passed (or not) determine your future direction? How to not let the stops stop you in your tracks? How to let go of the stops to an extent? As they say, none of us are coming out of this alive anyway...