By Brooke Kohl
The most recent time I was on a plane, I smiled at a line from the safety video: “Because at Delta, it’s not just the destination. It’s the journey that makes the difference.” In this otherwise boring video, I was excited to recognize a cheesy line that has become meaningful to me over the past year.
To anyone who has read The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson, as I recently did, “journey before destination” is an important phrase. Without going into too much detail, acceptance of this ideal is a necessary precursor to becoming a powerful being able to manipulate forces on the planet Roshar. This quote is explained in chapter 59 of The Way of Kings, the first book in the series: “In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important … than what you accomplished.”
The quote, which almost becomes a refrain throughout the series as characters see it actualize in their lives, is a foundational truth in Stormlight, one by which the most honorable people in society live. In short, it is not enough for people to focus on the goals they achieve; they must be cognizant of the paths they take along the way. The destination loses importance if the journey is not undertaken properly.
As I read, I thought about applications of “journey before destination” in my own life, specifically in terms of the journey of reading itself.
I made a huge dent in my “to-be-read” list between the end of school in May and coming back in August. I had the luxury of a job for which I could mostly choose my own hours, and after I clocked out each day, I was able to devote my time to working toward my goal of finishing books on my list. But that’s the issue: my goal was … to finish the books on my list. Not to unwind after work with a good book, not to be absorbed by a text and lose myself in the experience of reading, but to simply finish books.
Realizing this led me to reflect on the goal of reading. Is the point of reading to experience the act of reading — to soak in every word, to bask in each line, to let your brain slow down and truly live with the words? Or is it to reach a specific goal: read 50 books in a year, finish your to-be-read list, get through the entire fiction section of your library (impossible)? Is the goal to read a certain amount of books, or is it simply to read?
Over the summer, I enjoyed the process of reading. At the same time, I felt like I was in a race. Each book that I started was another book that I would finish. For books that I read online, I sometimes focused more on the percentage of the book I had completed than on the actual content of the book. But there were some moments when I reminded myself to slow down and focus only on the words right in front of me. When I was able to do that, the sense of overwhelm drifted away, and I felt the sentences wrap around my mind, acting as insulation against the stress of each book I haven’t yet read.
To be fair, if I was really focused on a number, I could have specifically chosen short books, but I didn’t. I read what I wanted to read, no matter the page count. I genuinely enjoyed and engaged with each book, writing down a brief thought on each one as well as meaningful quotes I encountered. Each book in The Stormlight Archive is over 1,000 pages long, and I didn’t hesitate to read those. But often, as I read, I found myself focusing on what page I was on, as though I was adding it to a collection of pages read. Wind and Truth, the final, 1,400-page Stormlight book, kept me engaged the entire time, but that didn’t stop me from counting down the pages, racing against … nothing, as I hurried to get through the book. I came to the realization: in this series so focused on “journey before destination,” I was focusing too much on the destination.
Now that school has started, my reading is going to look very different from how it did over the summer. I’ll be busy with classes, homework, readings for two English classes, Music Club (yes, this is an advertisement) and spending time with friends. The pace at which I read over the summer is not sustainable during the school year. Pushing myself to keep that pace will only lead to bitter feelings about reading. But I can make the most of the time that I do have without trying to go too quickly. I can focus more on the journey that I take through each book rather than on the destination that I reach.
At the same time, however, I think focusing on the destination is important, in a way. There is something to be said for always having something to strive for, to always pushing yourself to do the next thing, read the next book, reach the next milestone. Without the goal of a destination, it can be easy to become complacent with little or no progress.
Journey and destination is perhaps what feels best to me. I don’t want to lose sight of my goals: I want to be a reader. But I do need to slow down. The destination is motivation to keep reading, but focusing on the journey means enjoying the process.
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