My Journey to Joy

So, I have been struggling with the word "journey" lately. I'm quite certain that I don't like that word. Why? Because of all that journey implies? For me it implies so much...

First off it sounds so long. It sounds like a very long drive to a far away destination...I don't like the length of the word.

Because it sounds like a VERY long drive I know that I need to prepare and that bothers me...see here's the thing....growing up, whenever we did a family trip....you HAD to prepare for days....I mean DAYS. There were so many things to prepare for: weather, clothing, food, travel time, relaxation time. See you always have to be prepared for any and all situations. So, you must plan for all weather emergencies...which means that you have to be ready for snow, ice, sun, warmth, cooler weather, frost...you name it, you had to be ready for it. You also had to have the right clothes for all situations: heavy farm work, swimming, sledding, going to church, etc.

Now because of how long this trip is....you have to be prepared food-wise. See you must have lots of foods in the car for the journey. You have to have bread of some sorts and meat, so you must have a cooler...you must have chips.....and grapes.....and carrots....and fried pig skins.....and candy...and gum (the cheap stuff)...and water.

You must also have blankets and pillows and you must figure out some way to rig up something in the automobile that you are taking so that everyone can sleep while the driver is driving.

See....this whole journey thing takes a lot of preparation.

Also, this word journey implies a far away destination....but it does not imply a nice destination...see growing up when we planned a trip, a journey, it was never TO a destination...it was and is ALWAYS TO SOME FAMILY MEMBER'S HOUSE. My mother is Italian...and family is everything. So, when we planned a month long vacation in the summer of my 13th year....it was a giant loop through the USA to see family.

So...I have been struggling with my "journey" to joy because I am struggling with the word journey and all the baggage that is associated with it. I told a friend that I was banning the word "journey" from my vocabulary....I told her that I was going to call it "A Quick Drive to Joy" - but here's the thing....can I find joy on a quick drive? Are the things that make me despise that word also the things that keep me from finding joy?

So...where am I in my journey or whatever I am going to call this? Well, as you can see...I am not even packed.