The Path to Yesterday

I've read that Tasha Tudor

had found the path to yesterday.

I love the imagery of that.

Just image if we could go wandering down a path

and end up in another time.

Sounds a bit fantastic, I know.

Rather like Alice in the Looking Glass and a rabbit hole.

But there's something more to it really.

Source

It's not that far of a stretch once we are ready to see it.

And once we see it,

it's like opening a magic Wardrobe

and stepping inside to another world.

I'm not really throwing books at you:-)

I'm guessing with the mention of each of those tales,

a little spark of excitement and youth

fired up somewhere deep inside you.

As children, the thought of "roller skating" with scrub brushes

on your feet like Pippy scrubbing the floor/deck
 sounded like a brilliant alternative 

to the way we knew of hands and knees scrubbing.

Living in a tree-house or on a ship was a real possibility.

These stories strike a chord with us for a reason.

These adventures are taught to us as children,

but then somewhere along the way

we are told we shouldn't give them any thought.

((( Wham! )))

The door to that Secret Garden slammed closed

and no key to be found.

What is that and how do we not see it coming?

I am as clueless as you on that one.

I can't tell you when it happened,

but I grew up to 'want' certain things that were touted as 

cool or necessary or whatever.

And after school and work and career and dragging on 

and wanting and achieving and wanting more and. . . .

hang on a minute.

What is that?

I don't even like that.

I don't like how I feel.

That's not what I want.

What?  What's wrong with you?

Everybody wants the latest whatever.

It's progress, and progress is good.

What do you mean you don't even like it?

It's sooo cool!

Source

And that's when it clicks - right then.

Nooo. . . not cool.

How did I get here?

How do I go back?

And so we begin looking.

Quietly at first,

until we find a little deer trail,

then a partially overgrown foot path,

then a real way.

And that's it.

The way.

It's the path to yesterday.

And that little bit of excitement that sparked above. . . 

when you remembered~

it comes alive and flares up.

And when you finally see the way,

you want to run like a happy 8 year old

back to where/when you know it was right

or at least better.

At first it's almost like fleeing from something.

But around every turn of the path

is magic and excitement

that feels good and healthy and alive.

And gradually that fleeing sensation subsides

and falls away to a seeking of a different something.

Just like each new page of the storybook,

each day is met with anticipation of possibilities.

It is a wellness.

And then, over time,

there is a peace,

a knowing.

The anxiety of being pulled along in the channel

with all the others is a dull ember

easily squelched.

That's what Tasha had,

the peace and knowing.

Only she didn't let herself be pulled into the channel

in the first place like most of us.

I think that's part of what was so admirable about her.

She was a flawed human like the rest of us,

but she knew the way.

She had found the path to yesterday.

I have a feeling she had also been down a rabbit hole,

beyond a wardrobe and up a tree.

So when that excitement sparks,

maybe don't try to squelch it.

Go ahead and let it flare up and see where it leads.

You just might end up in a fantastic place and time.

Just watch out crossing that channel.

It has a powerful undercurrent.