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Ithaka: a poem reminds us that the journey is more important than the destination - Aleph


NOVEMBER 15, 2017 BY MARÍA GONZÁLEZ DE LEÓN
POSTED IN: VITAL COUNSELS



Greek poet, Constantine Cavafy, spoke of the importance of enjoying the trip, any trip, and not only longing for a journey’s end: it’s a metaphor that can be extended to many of life’s processes.

Ithaka

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn’t have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

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" The Cyclopes, the Laestrygonians, and the fierceness of the god Poseidon won’t appear along your path if you keep 'your thoughts raised high,' Cavafy says. Dangers will only arise if you carry them inside, or if your soul sets them up in front of you. With these words, the poet reminds us that on many occasions, our own demons impede us in the process of achieving what we want (thus the importance of turning those demons into allies).

This slight, dazzling advice in Cavafy’s poem is of enormous ontological implication, and could well be applied to the simplest and most mundane of life’s processes, with surprising, illuminating results.

A practice of this nature, as a philosophy of life, could also relate in a profound way to meditation, to the work of keeping our minds in the present."

- MARÍA GONZÁLEZ DE LEÓN

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As I find peace, calm, quiet inside, I'm brought gently back to awareness of the trauma, pain and hurt.


https://youtu.be/ibA3sHSOG9c

Heathens, choreography

Lyrics

All my friends are heathens, take it slow
Wait for them to ask you who you know
Please don't make any sudden moves
You don't know the half of the abuse
We don't deal with outsiders very well
They say newcomers have a certain smell
Yeah, I trust issues, not to mention
They say they can smell your intentions
You're lovin' on the freakshow sitting next to you
You'll have some weird people sitting next to you
You'll think "how did I get here, sitting next to you?"
But after all I've said, please don't forget
(Watch it, watch it)

Mango blast

On this Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday, as my heart is open, my wounds are fresh, my spirit is connected... I journey onward.

Aware of the dangers; looking for and embracing goodness.