The Labyrinth life
Last week I visited Austin, Texas, to meet up with friends to venture to a bookstore we were all really excited to see (that’s for another post). Naturally the trip included other adventures around Austin – getting BBQ, sampling multiple ice cream shops, seeing the bats fly out from underneath the Congress bridge at sunset, meandering through parks…just enjoying the city in all its loveliness.
On one of our leisurely strolls through a park, we saw on the map that there was a labyrinth and decided to wander over to it. Most labyrinths I’ve seen are shaped with large rocks in a gravel or dirt area. This one was simply made of two colors of stone – gray and pink – to delineate the path and the edges. My friend and I exchanged a look that said – OK, let’s do this!
And off we went.
I started out first and got a head start. People walk labyrinths in different ways, and the way I went was quietly and focused on the pathway directly in front of me. Since my friend started after me, I had a little time to consider the experience and realized what most everyone probably knows if they’ve every walked one – how much the experience mirrors life:
When I stepped into the labyrinth, my main thought was about getting to the middle. It was only once I got going that I realized I enjoyed the twists and turns of the path.
A little part of me wanted to let my eyes run the course ahead of me to see how I would get to the center or see if there was a shortcut. There is not. Once you begin, you just go with the path, wherever it takes you.
Just when I thought I was getting close, the path would turn and I would actually get further away from the center.
At times, my friend and I would pass. Sometimes it seemed like he was actually closer to the center than I was even though I started earlier. Did he know a trick??!
I didn’t realize how much ground I covered until I got to the middle and stopped to look around.
As I neared the end (the middle circle), I found myself slowing down. The thing I raced toward at the beginning I found myself suddenly not quite ready to get to. I was enjoying the path too much.
If you’ve never walked a labyrinth, I recommend it. It can be a rather exquisite experience if you allow it to be. Kind of like life.
