Reflections

This month marks the one year anniversary of Adventures in Voluntary Simplicity. As explained in an earlier post, this anniversary has given me the impetus to draft a series of summary posts that I hope to publish over the next several weeks.

These so-called Reflections represent an attempt, however flawed, to summarize certain truths I have embraced over the past year. Some emerged unspoiled and resplendent as I packed up the remnants of a life of excess I no longer desired. Others materialized in fits and starts as I stared out into the darkness of Washington DC from a drab office window, my only respite from the madness of billable hours, office politics and canceled vacations. Still others were plucked from the smile of a poor Virginian farmer, the kindness of a Kentucky waitress, and the gentleness of a small turtle I found on the road somewhere in Missouri. These Reflections are not conclusions per se. They are something more precious and fragile: they are the beginning of genuine understanding.

For me, the most important Reflection of all is that while the road is nowhere near it's end, I'm closer to reaching my destination. And that's what's important.