When you walk to the edge

"When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe one of two things will happen: you will step upon solid ground, or you will be taught how to fly." -Patrick Overton "The Leaning Tree"

I stumbled upon this quote several years ago in the back of the text book for a course in sociology I was taking at the time. I have used it as my inspiration ever since. Back then I did an Internet search on Patrick Overton and his book, "The Leaning Tree." I didn't find a website for him and Amazon said his book was out of print, but the poem has always stayed with me. Today Overton has a web site (http://www.patrickoverton.com/index.html) where he sells a poster with the poem on it and it is titled Faith.

Faith is a good interpretation of the poem. But the poem means so much more to me. It evokes visions of courage, adventure and anticipation. Persistence to keep on going even if I'm not sure of the outcome. A desire to push beyond the boundaries of my safe harbor. A willingness to move on. An intuitive knowingness that I'll find guidance when I need it. And a sense of wonder and awe at where I've come from and where I'm going.

So my theme for my blog is...well, any of the above. I won't know until I take that first step.