A long road trip can reset the mind and refresh the soul. Your thoughts wander as you peer through the windshield at the road ahead, and the forward motion of the drive allows you to forget the past and ponder the future.
After six hours of interstate it was time for some different scenery and the mountains in the distance seemed worth a soulful search. The sun speckled mountains off the endless two lane winding road on the next exit provided the perfect opportunity to get lost In the high plains of New Mexico. Some of life’s greatest treasures are found when lost in the middle of nowhere, and the anxiety of the adventure was preferable to the boredom behind the big rigs.
The soul can soar in the winds of tumbleweeds crossing the highway as you realize there is nothing and no one as far as the eye can see. Darting up the winding mountain road, you wonder how the beautiful lines of red colors were painted in time so precisely in the geology around you. What happened in the distant past to leave that lasting legacy of beauty for the world to see? What mark is our life leaving behind for those we love?
We reach the top expecting an equally long decent, only to find an infinite plateau preserved through time with nothing but horizon in site. The openness surrounding us in the high plains is mesmerizing. I slowed to take it all in. My empath wife doesn’t ask why I slowed, instead she asks “How does what you see make you feel?”. It was difficult to describe. I felt the joy of endless possibilities without purpose, and the sadness of realizing I safely kept my life too small.
The wandering road trip off the common path, allowed our minds to drift into sharing the pains of the past, forgetting the problems in the present, and exploring a future of limitless possibilities. The openness of the high plains dared us to dream without the constraints of time or destination. We were lost in the beauty around us and found the treasure of the reflective beauty in our life together. The road reminded us that the miles we are making are made together as ‘partners in possibilities’ and not ‘prisoners of our past’. Our joy will be forever found in the journey together.