Watchwords We've Been Avoiding

There are many journeys for people to take these days. Life is a journey after all. Even the word journey itself has journeyed a bit, veering off path from the traditional travel sense of the word to take on more spiritual and emotional meanings. Vague, yet profound, use of the word has journeyers sounding like they are reciting a proverb from a fortune cookie: "Life is about the journey you take to get there." Confusing, yes, but unraveling the meaning is part of your journey, depending on the path you choose.

I reached the end of my journey in tolerating the term this summer. I found myself following a reality TV star's journey as chronicled by a major network. Although the viewing experience is part of my personal life's journey I would gladly take back, I comfort myself with the reminder that there is no real wasted time in the self-discovery land of reality TV. At every plot turn, dramatic voice-over, or emotional interview, contestants would discuss the progress and importance of their journey. Each week, as I would listen to vague descriptions of these all-important journeys, I couldn't help but wish that the "stars" would start referring to themselves as "journeyers" or better yet work in the verb form of journey to their dialogue. Something akin to: "It means so much to see how far we have journeyed." Still vague, yes, but shifting from nouns to verbs can demonstrate growth on one's linguistic journey.

Referring to "life growth" as a journey is technically an acceptable use, but the word is not so powerful that it can withstand the exhaustion of overuse. At summer's (near) end, journey is looking run-down. Tattered and worse for wear, journey belongs to another side now, the side where it's harder to put things into words.

So, let us move on to other words and consider synonyms for getting from here to there. Journey is, after all, not the only travel word in the dictionary. In our travels, we can relish the variety of verbs at our disposal: pilgrimage, voyage, trek, etc. At TBATC, many sights and sounds have fascinated us as we have traversed our summer paths, yet we have managed to avoid the bland possibilities that the journey affords--even journeying out of our way, when need be, to avoid them.