A number of years ago, while we were still living in Nashville, my wife and I took our kids to the zoo. It was one of our favorite places to go at the time because it wasn't too big, but still had a nice variety of animals. On top of that, there was a giant playground in the middle of the zoo that our kids were very partial to.
On this particular day as we were walking towards the tiger pen, one of our kids asked about a small dirt path that led around the side of the pen. The zoo was small, but not undeveloped, and the paths meant for patrons were paved and plenty obvious. As this path was neither, I explained that the mere existence of the path didn't mean it was a path meant for us.
I went on to explain that there are plenty of paths that exist that aren't intended for us to walk on. For example, switchback trails in the mountains have plenty of smaller trails that (literally) cut the corners, but that doesn't mean we should take them. The switchbacks are much more durable and less likely to erode and become unusable over time. I explained that there will always be people who want to take shortcuts, but that doesn't mean we're going to be those people. Rules and laws are there for a reason.
That's all well and good, and it was a useful teaching moment with my kids, but on that particular sunny day in music city, that little path by the tiger pen got me contemplating a much deeper question. It's a question that started me down a road that has profoundly affected my life.
Why do we like the other paths so much?
Bypassing switchbacks on a mountain trail seems to have a fairly logical explanation. I mean, it's shorter, and who doesn't like a shortcut? To be clear, I'm all for finding the shortest route to somewhere, but not when it's the equivalent of cruising through a corner gas station just to bypass an intersection. That's basically what skipping the switchbacks in the mountains is, which is why I don't condone it, but it's at least explainable on some level.
What about the trail by the tiger pen? Don't the people at the zoo WANT you to see the tigers? Don't you think they put the trails at the optimal places for that happen? What would be the point in building a tiger pen, importing a tiger to live in the pen, charging admission for people to observe the tiger, and then intentionally making it difficult for those people to do so? I'm guessing those people wouldn't come back, and it would be bad for business. So what gives?
At that point in my musing, I realized there's a saying I'd heard frequently in our culture that held a giant clue. Something about getting off the beaten path. Often, we attach a positive connotation to that phrase, but suddenly I was wondering if that was actually the case.
For me I realized the desire to leave the beaten path, (and if you know me at all, you know I LOVE to leave the beaten path) more than often stems from a desire to have a unique experience. An experience that's different from everyone else. An experience that will in turn make me feel unique, and maybe even...special.
That meant that for me the unbeaten path was actually (at least partially) an identity issue and I didn't even know it.
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