Life is a dance not a journey.

Stepping into (un)becoming vs be-going.

Today’s quickening comes from Alan Watts. I love a good metaphor, and this one is especially evocative.

We tend to think of our lives as journeys, but most journeys imply destinations - we are going somewhere. Watts invites us to think about life as music or a dance. The point of the dance is the dance; it’s not going anywhere.

“Music differs from, say, travel. When you travel, you are trying to get somewhere. In music, though, one doesn’t make the end of the composition the point of the composition. If that were so, the best conductors would be those who played fastest. And there would be composers who only wrote finales. People would go to a concert just to hear one crackling chord… because that’s the end!”― Alan Watts

It reminded me of this piece in Wayfinding Leadership (Spiller et al).

“By staying still and adjusting to the signs - eventually, the island comes to the waka.

… The wayfinder’s world is thus one of be-coming - which is very different to the usual model, which has us always going somewhere between a static world of fixed things - a be-going approach.”

Speaking from my own experience, I’ve spent too much time postponing my joy and dreams for “one day” when I’ve reached some ideal destination. When I am in this “be-going” state, I miss the joy in the present moment.

Even “becoming” can become a goal or outcome. So perhaps it’s about unbecoming?

I am learning that life is not about reaching a destination or a goal. It’s about dancing with all my might while I am here and being open to what emerges when I follow “the signs” and take the steps that feel most alive in the moment.