On Friday afternoon, I took two taxi rides.
On my first, I was on my way somewhere. I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I didn’t know exactly how I would reach there. I really just hoped that the driver taking me would.
He didn’t.
But he did have an idea. An idea of where that place was. An idea of the roads that might lead there. An idea of the path to our destination.
On my second, I was on my way home. I knew exactly where I was going. I knew exactly how I would reach there. I really just hoped that the driver taking me would.
He did.
But amongst the congestion and confusion we call traffic on a Friday afternoon, we got stuck in the middle of each highway or pathway we eventually got on.
Both times, I eventually got to exactly where I wanted to go. Albeit from contrasting starting points.
On the first, we found our way based on an idea. Based on our perception of what the end would like.
On the second, we had to divert from pre-conceived notions. We had to find alternative pathways to reach where we wanted to go.
I think that sometimes that’s the oxymoron we find ourselves in-between.
In-between working towards something we don’t really visualize and finding alternative ways of achieving what we’ve already visualized, especially in the midst of unexpected constraints.
But I also think that those are the moments that define us. The moments where we have to believe in our own beliefs. The moments where we have to overcome unprecedented barriers. The moments where the journey makes the destination truly worthwhile.
© Hudson Biko
Photograph: Peter Kasprzyk
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