Wandering: A Precursor to Clarity

Lance Baker
The Bigger Picture
Published in
4 min readJul 23, 2019

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I’ve been greatly inspired by stories of journey, pilgrimage, and exploration. John Muir, Annie Dillard, Henry David Thoreau, Peter Jenkins, Donald Miller, Leo Tolstoy, the anonymous Pilgrim of The Way of a Pilgrim, Innocent Smith of Manalive, and Christopher McCandless from Into the Wild — these people and their stories have all sparked something in me. Their lives and journeys are all unique but they each have deep roots in wandering and exploration.

What else do these wanderers have in common? They’ve all told brilliant stories, relayed powerful observations, and made fascinating discoveries about themselves, others, and the world. Wandering seems to be a sort of prerequisite, or incubator of sorts, for mindfulness, creativity, insight, empathy, and compassion. More and more research shows a link between wandering minds and creative solutions to problems.

Wandering appears to play a crucial role in our formation and identity as healthy individuals.

What Is Wandering Exactly?

The New Oxford American Dictionary provides two definitions that I like:

  • to walk or move in a leisurely, casual or aimless way
  • to move away slowly from a fixed point

Wandering, by the first definition, has played an important role in my life. I’ve spent a fair amount of time physically wandering. Growing up in northeast Ohio, I would often go for long walks in the woods or neighboring fields — usually with my camera in hand to help me notice the small things. In college, some friends and I went on a cross country road trip. Our van broke down but we continued across to wander the U.S. by foot and bus. One summer, a few friends showed up at my door on foot asking me to join them. Where were they going? They didn’t really know, they were just walking and stopped by to see if I would join. We spent the subsequent 3-4 hours walking and talking together throughout the country roads of Ohio.

When I lived in Vietnam, I would often go explore the nearby mountains on my motorbike. On one occasion, this lead to the discovery of one of Vietnam’s oldest Banyan trees. Another time it led to the discovery of a remote nature preserve. Another we met a young man who lead us to a secluded swimming hole in a mountain…

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Lance Baker
The Bigger Picture

A fellow observer on the journey through life. Trying to cultivate a deeper way of being in the world.