belonging

The second of April 2019

Uncategorized

Many goats are so beloved by the communities they live in. For example, recently in the United States, the town of Fair Haven, Vermont, elected a goat named Lincoln to preside as mayor. The village of Cushendun in Northern Ireland had a similar beloved town goat; however, Johann, to my knowledge, never held elected office. He served the village of Cushendun as a volunteer greeter to visitors hoping to enjoy the Victorian architecture settled along the sea. Sadly, Johann served Cushendun until 2001, when he was the last animal to put to rest during the great Foot and Mouth Outbreak that brought the agriculture to a halt in the United Kingdom. Many people now visit Cushendun because it was the setting of an infamous scene from the popular television show Game of Thrones when sorceress Melisandre birthed a shadow. If you find yourself looking for the cave of the shadow baby, you can’t miss the statue built to celebrate the life of Johann the goat, welcoming you to the village.

The statue commemorating Johann the Goat was sculpted in 2002 by artist Deborah Brooks.

The third of March 2019

goats

Desire paths are those trodden, foot created trails you sometimes see across open spaces representing places that lack a proper paved sidewalk or footpath that people (and or goats) use to make their journeys more efficient. Perhaps they signal a certain yearning to rebel against the modern world, forge your own path and thumb your nose at the algorithms of urban planning. On one hand, they are a form of active resistance, dividing planted grassy knolls and designated open spaces, but on the other, they are literally perhaps the “path of least resistance” making traveling across these spaces perhaps easier and less time consuming. Desire paths are the physical manifestation of one of the paradoxes of being human – a longing to be your own, individual person, guided by your own desires, intuition and knowledge that is better than anyone else’s for your experience; however, longing to belong and fit in with others, to experience the stages of life in their proper order and to share your life’s path with others. Perhaps there is no real solution other than finding balance between our yearning for individuality and belonging, and maybe updated urban planning algorithms.

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What is your desire path?

The twenty ninth of November 2018

goats

Do you ever worry about fitting in and belonging with a group, squad or tribe? Sometimes there can be a lot of pressure to finding the right fit or going along with the flow. Many famous writers have remarked that the true path to belonging is to just be your most authentic self. It is difficult sometimes to find the balance between being your most authentic self and fitting in with others, but realizing that belonging is kind of an illusion, and happiness, belonging and less alienation happens when you just let that need for belonging go. Maya Angelou sums it up better:

You only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all

Find your own path, your own place to stand, and the rest will follow.

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“Be courageous, but not foolhardy.” -the wise Maya Angelou.