The Joys of Aimless Wandering

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college I spent living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the family of a classmate. My friend's house was right on the outskirts of town, not more than a couple blocks from a trail head leading into the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, and there were many afternoons that I spent wandering among the pinon and juniper trees, beneath an endless blue sky. I would head out with nothing more than a bottle of water, a blanket to lie on, a favorite collection of poems and - occasionally - my walkman with some excellent classical music. It was sublime! By the end of the summer, I felt more relaxed and joyful than I had in many years. There was a feeling of deep inner peace and contentment which was quite palpable, though difficult to describe. All I knew was that it was a very good thing, and I felt so grateful for those long hours of wandering, of being nourished and healed by the mountains, trees and sky.

This was years before I knew anything about Taoism, or the practice of "aimless wandering." Yet what I see now is that it was exactly this that I was doing - wandering freely through a place of great natural beauty, guided by intuition and a child-like curiosity. And in the process (unbeknowst to me) I was cultivating what Taoists call Wu Wei - a state of ease and spontaneity. So what exactly is "aimless wandering"? It's kind of like surfing the Internet ... except what we're "surfing" is the web of life - the elements of the natural world.

What's interesting is that cultivating spontaneity, in this way, actually allows us to be very precise, at the same time. It's one of those Taoist paradoxes! When we see great martial artists, we notice both precision and fluidity. So inspiring! The practice of "aimless wandering" allows us to nourish these same qualities, and to find harmony with both our internal and our external landscapes. With this kind of harmonious, free-flowing connection with our world, how could we not be happy?!