After long and winding roads, I see white shores in the distance. The threshold where ocean meets sand is punctuated by white sails. My vessel awaits. Where it shall take me, I do not know. My back resting on an old oak, I feel like spending one last night on this land before embarking on a journey from which there is no return.
Thinking back at my life, it feels like this is the moment I've always been waiting for. Although where I came from I had everything I could dream of, inner peace did not choose to reveal itself. Through wonderful experiences I thought it would. So I traveled to the most beautiful places, savored the most delicious meals, and stayed in the most luxurious houses, thinking this is what I ought to desire as so many people around me do. Surely, inner peace will now choose to reach out for the dance.
The joy from these experiences never lasted. Although my garden was frequently adorned with scented roses, lilies and lotuses, it never took very long for them to wilt before me. There was nothing I could do to sustain their tender companionship, and so, my heart was drenched in sorrow.
The woman who I thought would be the mother of my children and my lifelong companion resolved to leave my side, because although she tried to be, she simply wasn't happy with me. She made no accusations, spoke no harsh words, nor did she phrase any profound statements. She simply wasn't happy. And so with a broken heart, I embarked on a journey to find the love I couldn't provide. Where to start? I did not know. But I took a first step, then a second.
Guided by a voice that whispered of a wonderful place where ocean meets sand, I walked seeking to find. Where this place is cannot be said with certainty. It is somewhere unique to all of us. Only you can find it and only you can know which of all the countless roads will lead you there. And when you are most desperate, do not let fear conquer your heart, for fellow companions will walk beside you to reveal precisely what you require to keep your head high. Nothing more, nothing less.
Once you reach that magical place, the voice said, a boat will already be waiting for you. But only to those who's hearts truly wished to find, would the boat reveal itself. And so, at times you will fear to have walked the long miles leaving all that you knew, only to find a desolate shore. That fear is something you must face alone. Saying you won't yearn to abandon your journey and turn back would be an unforgivable lie.
Have faith and keep on walking, knowing that the vessel will be on the white shores only you can find. It is said, that it has been waiting for you forever, but only really reaches the shore once you are ready for where it wants to take you. Where that is, no one knows. Not even you. What you must wish for in your heart is only to find it.
As I saw the white sand in the distance and swept the coastline with my eyes, I held my breath. Would I have fallen to my knees in despair if the ship was nowhere to be found? That I shall never now, for there it was. A ship with white sails.
I lay down under the oak tree and watch the leaves move the winds. Listening to the sound, it feels like the earth itself whispers one long "sssshhhh". Long have I waited for this moment and yet it is not excitement I feel, but inner peace. Serendipity. As the sun takes with it the veil of blue under the horizon for others to see, my eyes close.
Soon, the journey to Ithaca begins.