An extract from Wise Traveller: Relationships

As we walked along the Cumbrian river bank, surrounded by the startling landscape of the Langdales, we chatted about how it is that there seems to be an agreement, not common in towns, that you greet whoever passes you on the path. Why is that, we wondered?

Perhaps it's because it's easy - there are fewer people to greet out here than in the city. Or possibly it's a matter of confidence - people in cagoules on a country path being less intimidating than commuters and consumers in the city. Maybe it's anonymity - our country clothing hiding who we really are, making us all potentially equal. Perhaps it's time - there seeming to be more time for greeting and being greeted on a quiet rural walk, rather than every moment being spent on simply travelling and arriving.

Or maybe, we decided in the end, it is something else, not to do with us at all, but to do with the beauty of the path and the surrounding scenery. Something to do with the journey itself: a belief that the journey matters, and not simply because of where it is leading. As we spoke to other travellers on the riverside path we were acknowledging that this is what we were - travellers sharing the same path. We may have been going in opposite directions, or walking at a different pace, but we had all chosen this path, and we indicated with each footfall our shared belief that the journey was worth making, not for the destination, but for the path itself. It was not surprising, then, that we verbalised our commonality when we met, even if not fully conscious of our belief.

After a while, we stopped to rest and sat on a bench overlooking a part of the river where the water was smooth and deep, but fast moving. A leaf became caught in an eddy, and gently dawdled while around it the river raced on. Like the leaf, we paused. And then we continued, nodding and greeting, smiling and agreeing that this was indeed a fine day for a walk on a path such as this.

Piers Lane

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