the year I wandered....

The first time I heard/saw this statement I don't think I saw what it could really mean. For most persons I believe it's safe to say that the quote makes them think of a traveler who although not in one place for long (like a nomad), he/she isn't lost because that is exactly what they want...to be wandering.

....at least that was my initial thought. 

Now, it's different. 

I don't think of a nomadic traveler, instead I think of someone going through a transitional phase...'wandering' from one stage in life to another; where the in between stage carries minimal structure and is more or less a situation where one is going through the motions of life.

I spent 2012 in this 'wandering stage.' I finished college in 2011 and like many other college graduates my dream job wasn't at my fingertips, nor was the opportunity to go straight to graduate school. Throughout the year although I wandered, it wasn't that I didn't know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go; instead it was a situation where these things just needed more time before they would/could manifest, for whatever reason.

Although I had my part-time jobs and personal projects to keep me busy, of course there were days where I felt annoyed that I was just wandering and seemingly not getting where I wanted to go. What made it even more frustrating sometimes was the fact that I had friends and peers who were not wandering, and instead were having the time of their life with their jobs/opportunities/situations/etc...many of whom loved it all.

But it wasn't as if I was the only one who wasn't, dare I say 'living it up'. There were those persons I knew who were wandering just like me, and for some of them this was completely okay and their year of transition never bothered them one bit. For me though, it sometimes drove me half crazy knowing that there was almost never a schedule of things to be done!

But the year wasn't all bad....

My year of wandering taught me to relax and step back from the chaotic lifestyle I had gotten used to over the years. Of course this wasn't always as amazingly relaxing as one may think. If I spent one third of my year asking myself 'what am I really doing with my life?', I got to spend the remaining two thirds answering the question.

The increase in free time gave me the chance to try new projects including an ungraded online course, a short course in event planning and even the development of my non-profit organisation - Bloom Foundation for Education. I took time to research the colleges I would apply to for graduate school, and even gave myself the chance to think through some of the goals I had for my life...reassessing where necessary and making whatever changes I thought would make the realisation of my goals easier.

With 2012 in the past and 2013 now very much here, I've decided to re-do my dream book and vision board with the adjusted goals I now have.

Does this imply that my wandering is done?

Probably not. I still don't have the dream job, nor have I started the masters program I long to be in....yet!...

The adjusted goals are really more or less the same goals taken from a different angle and that new angle is the direction I'll be working in for 2013. It does call for changes from the way things were done last year, but these will happen overtime throughout the year....surely not all at once.

So I guess I'll be wandering in some areas of my life and not in others.... I believe that now that I have a better appreciation for a 'wanderer' who isn't at all lost, 2013 will be an amazing year with goal setting, self improvement and whatever other great learning opportunity I wander into!