Wandering

Not every step needs to be headed somewhere specific. The Mature Warrior wanders. He moves through the world without a fixed destination, open to whatever he finds along the way. This isn't running away from something; it's staying open to what life wants to show him.

The Orphan wanders because he has no home. The Homebody never wanders, staying fixed in familiar territory. The Mature Warrior wanders with purpose, exploring without agenda.

Wandering requires several capacities:

Openness: The Warrior doesn't filter everything through predetermined goals.

Presence: The Warrior notices what's around him rather than being lost in thought.

Trust: The Warrior trusts that wandering will reveal what he needs to find.

Comfort with uncertainty: The Warrior tolerates not knowing where he's going.

Receptivity: The Warrior receives what wandering offers—insights, encounters, discoveries.

Return: The Warrior integrates discoveries into his life.

Wandering might mean walking with nowhere to be, exploring a new city without pulling up directions, or letting a conversation take its own course. The Warrior's willingness to wander keeps him available for the surprises life has in store.

Staying open like this leads to real discovery. When the Warrior wanders, he stumbles onto things he never would have found on purpose. He meets people and runs into ideas that his usual route would never bring him.

The Warrior who learns to wander well moves through the world with his eyes open. He finds what he wasn't looking for and comes back changed by encounters he couldn't have planned. Wandering is the counterweight to all that driving and achieving. It makes room for the things that only show up when you stop trying to control what happens next.