Thoughts on Thursday: When will this Journey end?

Is it just me (and my friend Jen) or does it seem that everyone is on a “journey” these days?  We were having this discussion last night while watching the American Idol finale.  When the singers were asked how they were feeling, they talked about what an incredible JOURNEY they had been on.  Really?  Where did you go?  Sure they left their hometowns for Hollywood but that’s not what they were talking about.  They were talking about the EXPERIENCE. They weren’t the only ones.  Each time someone was voted off all season, the audience got to see video clips of their incredible journey.   I remember watching the show Big Brother a while back and listening to a contestant ponder whether someone should leave the house or not.  They wondered aloud whether or not it was part of their journey.  Their journey -- Seriously?  Going from the fridge to the couch to the hot tub and back again isn’t really a journey.  These days it seems that everyone is on a journey.  Sign up for a class that will take you on a journey of self-discovery.  Attend a friend’s wedding and you are now joining the happy couple on their life’s journey.  It seems to me that the overuse of the j-word is just killing its meaning.

 

I’ll admit that if you look the word “journey” up in the dictionary, it will be defined as a period of travel and a secondary meaning is a passage of one stage to another.  However if you use a thesaurus you will find that “journey” is synonymous with adventure, exploration, expedition, safari or even a quest.  If you were on the Amazing Race, I’d love to hear about your journey.  Sorry but your trip to DISNEY is just that – a TRIP not a journey!

 

Hearing about a journey used to really mean something to me.  Sadly the overuse of the word has gotten out of control.  Journalist Kath Kenny once wrote “We will continue to overuse and misuse the word journey until we regain a better sense of proportion and the relative weight of things.  A journey is not what happens when a major bank changes its interest rate, despite what the ad claims:  it’s better used to describe, say, an escape from a dictatorial regime and a life-threatening trip on a leaky boat.

To sum this all up I will quote a bumper sticker I saw when I lived in Texas:  THERE IS NO JOURNEY.  SHIT JUST HAPPENS. 

Happy Thursday Everyone --Dawn

Comments

[Chiara]

Oh I just love this.

[Jennifer]

Well said. Now that I've read your post, I feel as if we've been on a journey together. Now, if you don't mind, I must continue along my journey to the epic journey my daughter is taking- leaving first grade and embarking on summer camp.

[mark kornfeld]

And this encapsulates in a nutshell why I love you honey. Brilliant. My journey was to sit on the FDR the other morning at 145 in the moring, and yesterday at the ramp on to i-95 in Greenwich at 1130 at night wondering how it is possble that there is lterally no matter what time I am travelling what road I am on and wherever I am going insane aggravating traffic. 2 and a half hours to get home for what should be an hour ride -- now that is a Journey. Dont Stop Beliving. That is Journey. Christopher Columbus, Space travel the kid who just climbed Mt Everest -- journeys. Trying to survive 3 days to get in the monet at the World Series of Poker . . .. Not so much.

[suzanna]

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Xx