THE JOURNEY AND THE MEANING OF LIFE
Why is my site called Ithaka? Well, Constantine P. Cavafy’s poem is based on Odysseus’s journey home. He suggests that a full life is based upon enjoying the moment, the journey and the beauty in day-to-day life, not just the destination. It reminds me of all the studies looking at people at the end of their lives, on their death beds and what they wish they did more of less of.
The answer is to keep searching for meaning, love, connection, appreciation, not wishing away time to simply reach goals (although this is important) but it’s about enjoying and appreciating the beauty in the small things in life; The green of the rustling leaves, the chirping of the birdsong first thing in the morning, losing yourself in an art gallery, the silence you experience when diving underwater, the warm feeling you get when you are with a loved one.
The poem suggests that even in the greatest challenges, by the time we reach Ithaka, we will find ourselves stronger. It’s about how we navigate the twists and turns, what we can learn from the tough experiences and how we can maybe do things different as we learn.
This poem has a special meaning for me and my family because Greece has a very special place in our hearts.
ITHAKA
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
