More Found Than Lost
I loved the line, “Perhaps I was feeling more found than lost” in in Book 3 of Threads West An American Saga: Uncompahgre: Where Water Turns Rock Red by Reid Lance Rosenthal. The context was really the fact that the character, who was part of an 1855 wagon train westward, was feeling more found than lost because of being in such beautiful country, with newfound friends, and so much opportunity. And, feeling lost is many times a step toward feeling found. Also, all these characters left their familiar homes, friends, and families and were now with strangers in a very strange land. I heard it said once that sometimes we are never more found than when we are the most lost.
The members of the wagon train had become a very tight knit network offering vital connections between people who came to rely on one another. This network offered real, substantial support around a common vision. Unlike most our social networks of today. Another lesson we can learn from these emigrants is every one was aware of why they were doing what they were doing, I believe we learn from this how important it is for us to have a shared purpose and a network offering support.
Flattening The Bumps
Today, I had a person thank me for “flattening out the bumps for them along the way.” I appreciated the “thank you” and began to reflect on the bumps. Had I really done that much? She thought so. Then I got to thinking; it wasn’t about the bumps, it was about someone being there to flatten them out. Everyone needs someone to flatten out the bumps. Are you that person for someone?
Going The Distance
“It seems I’ve come a great distance but yet have still not arrived.” Rebecca said this in as they were looking down the valley at Cherry Creek (what would become Denver, Colorado) in Book 3 of Threads West An American Saga: Uncompahgre: Where Water Turns Rock Red by Reid Lance Rosenthal. Considering she had started in England; taken a ship to New York; a train to St. Louis; and the a wagon train to Cherry Creek, she really had traveled a great distance, but there was still so much to explore, do, and experience. Sound familiar?
“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” ~ from Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot
The quote above from T.S. Eliot says a lot. I believe all the characters in the great Threads West novel series that headed west knew themselves and where they came from better, the further they explored. Only after extensive exploration and experiences, in other words, living, do we fully understand the beauty or all that we gained from where we grew up and the people that have been part of our lives. We cannot see who we are and where we are until we go through the process. The process of searching for something outside of ourselves reveals the truth within ourselves. All the characters in this book, like us, are searching for something, and in the process all are finding themselves. What we should all aspire to do is to continually question, to seek, to “not cease from exploration,” and ultimately, the result of our quest will be to see our original experiences and encounters in new and enlightened ways, to see now what we could not see then (whether due to lack of maturity, contemplation or experience) and to have a full understanding of our experience’s meaning.
Byron's Babbles 
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