The Lost Art of Finding Joy in the Journey

These days, we’re all in such a hurry. We have to get around the slow car in front of us, just to arrive at the traffic light one car’s length ahead. We get, and even eat, our meals in the car, because we feel that there’s just not time to cook an old-fashioned dinner and then actually sit down to eat it as a family. One child has to be at this place, while another child has to be at another. We just rush, rush, rush everywhere we go. We often end up running late and spend a lot of time feeling frantic, but who has time to stop and smell the roses?! And traveling? Forget it. Just get us where we’re going so we can maximize our time there before rushing back home to the rat race. Air travel has become the preferred vacation transportation method for just that reason. Whatever happened to finding joy in the journey? Back in the day, getting there was half the fun. And it still can be.

This summer, we decided to take an old-fashioned road trip. As we still had constraints due to work and summer camps, we did not have unlimited time to just drift. It was a trip with purpose, but the purpose was to maximize our experiences as we traversed this great nation of ours – to find the joy in the journey. There’s no better way to fully see and appreciate all the different amazing sights that comprise this land than traveling by car. Our trip didn’t have a single destination. The entire trip – all 6,316 miles of it – with each night spent in a different place, was the destination. (To take the journey with us, click here.) It has given us experiences and exposures and memories that will help shape us. It has given us an awareness and appreciation not only of our country, our home, but also of our family, of each other.

The Lost Arts has also been an amazing journey for me. When I look back to where I started, making a few bars of soap for fun, to where I am today, with retail and wholesale outlets, I am awestruck. The business and I continue to grow. Where will it end up? Who knows? I am not trying to reach “the end”! I plan to enjoy the journey each step of the way.