eager feet...

I think it's fair to say I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to Lord of the Rings...the friend I went to see the third movie with will attest to this, as I vividly remember shrieking at her in the cinema parking lot when she asked why the eagles didn't just carry the ring to Mount Doom in the first place and save everyone else the trouble. I still don't know if I have an acceptable answer to that...

Plot discussions aside, there are a number of poems and lines throughout the books that stick with me like no other poetry can, and The Road Goes Ever On And On is the best example of this:

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
~ J.R.R. Tolkein, Fellowship of the Ring

And then there's this bit as well (and then I promise I'm done):
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door...you step onto the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."

It recently hit me that this is the last year of my 20s. Don't get me wrong - I'm not nervous about turning 30. I'm not having a crisis of any kind, nor am I feeling any desire to go back in time and relive my glorious youth...it's better left behind. No, what I'm feeling is this sense that 30 is going to be my year, and while I think I'm not doing horribly, I know I want more for myself.

I found a list of goals at the back of a journal today, and reading through them, I realized two things. Among the random crazy goals, I have also set realistic (not low, realistic!) goals for myself, and while I've met some of them, there are still many that are yet unrealized. Like eating a chocolate croissant in Paris, visiting New Zealand, learning to play the guitar and the fiddle, baking and decorating a wedding cake, becoming a daily runner, and to be comfortable in my own skin. And those are just the realistic goals - who knows what will end up happening - I never planned or hoped for Wales, but here I am, and it's been amazing!

I've kept a journal for years, but there's something about this turning 30 thing that makes me want to share where I am in my life right now and what happens along the way. So here I am. And as cheesy as it may sound, I'm going out of my door with eager feet - we'll see where this leads!