The Road Less Taken

Written by Diane Carol Mark.

Although my godmother passed recently, my godfather is still alive and continues to occupy a sprawling 3000 square foot menagerie in the hills of Grants Pass, Oregon. Their panoramic view includes a pyramid mountain and a dragon back of rolling hills forms the perimeter. Abundant sweet drinking water pours from their well.

Wild Lavender

Each 4^th of July for the past twenty years while my godmother lived we held an annual spiritual retreat attended by a global family of over 150 folks. During the intensity of the weekend, I always hiked down the hill past a walnut grove and around the bend to one of my favorite rural dirt roads. Mustard wildflowers, poppies and wild lavender lined the path. The summer heat never discouraged insects and prolific honeybees hovered over the blossoms.

The real draw of this piece of earth wasn’t the colorful foliage or natural aura, but the slow year-after-year overgrowth from lack of use. The path was transitioning into pure countryside.

Road Less Taken

The Oregon country road was a profound experience in how to change. When you want to create a new habit, belief or lifestyle, stroll across a new path or play a new groove in your mind. The old will disintegrate from lack of use. Finally like the road less taken, it returns to pure countryside while your new behavior is rooted in place.

In the same way, we can apply this idea to our social structures, our political processes, and our economies: by building a better system, we make the faulty one obsolete.

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4 Responses to The Road Less Taken

November 15, 2011 at 10:33 am
Family Vacation Ideas

I just added this feed to my bookmarks. I have to say, I very much enjoy reading your blogs. Thanks!

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- November 16, 2011 at 7:36 am
  Diane Carol Mark
  
  Hi Family Vacation Ideas,
  Welcome and thanks for participating on the site! Diane
  
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November 17, 2011 at 11:45 am
June Samuels

I have always loved Oregon – I have thought about retiring there myself. No place greener.

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- November 17, 2011 at 8:47 pm
  Diane Carol Mark
  
  Hi June,
  Yes, this is a lovely spot near a string of hillsides that look like a dragon’s back. Thanks for joining the site! Diane
  
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