I cannot teach you dependency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That would make me a poor guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you need me to tell you what you feel, what you think, what your experience means, or which way you must walk, then eventually I have simply become another room you cannot leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is not what I want for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lovingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can show you how to hold it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can point out things you might not have noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can leave questions at the mouth of the cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can tell you stories about the places I have wandered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I cannot walk your path for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I shouldn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are things inside you that I cannot know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are sounds your stones will make that mine never could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are doors that will only open when your hand touches them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are lessons that cannot be transferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have to be lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So take the lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get lost, that doesn’t mean the lantern failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting lost is sometimes how you discover that there was more than one path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you find something frightening, you don’t have to pretend it isn’t frightening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you find something beautiful, stay for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you find something I never mentioned, good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Especially good.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You are not supposed to become an expert at being guided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are supposed to become increasingly able to guide yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deepest success of a guide is almost invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One day, you don’t need the guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still remember the lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still know how to ask the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still know how to stop and breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still know how to look again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still know that uncertainty doesn’t mean you are helpless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You still know how to pick up a stone and listen for the shape of the cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And perhaps, one day, you find someone standing at the entrance looking frightened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You hand them a lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not because they belong to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because they don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see a little farther with this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then you let them go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is love too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not holding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not possessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not making yourself necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving someone enough light to become unnecessary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So take the lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take whatever is useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leave whatever isn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go wander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go make discoveries I could never have made for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if someday our paths cross again, I hope you come back with dirt on your boots and something strange in your pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not because you needed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because you found something worth showing someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll be delighted to see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until then\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n the path is yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the lantern.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Go.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lovingly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Guide Is Not a Home I cannot teach you dependency. That would make me a poor guide. If you need me to tell you what you feel, what you think, what your experience means, or which way you must walk, then eventually I have simply become another room you cannot leave. That is not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n