The Journey - Christian Callaghan

One poem that I recently read was “The Journey” Mary Oliver, and this at first glance was a melodramatic poem that emphasized how life was out to get you and that its grasp was inevitable. How wrong I was…


In concluding my time in the class Journey and Meaning Making, I have realized that a large part in my making your own journey worth the grind and effort is that it must satisfy you internally. You must give to yourself what you want to receive out of the journey and only that way can one say that they have fully complete the meaning in their life. This poem emphasizes those values to a high degree.

Oliver states;

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own (lines 26-29).

At this point in the poem, we have gone through the struggles of self and are starting to gravitate more toward the acceptance of who we are as people. Seeing as the new voice appears to talk to us and we can understand that the difference we have made in our life as led to a parting of the clouds. Do not let the psychological skew the idea that this poem is ultimately about her leading a life of meaning. In the fact that she is trying to recongzie herself again and push forward on her journey in getting to know herself

Oliver mentions;

the only thing you could do—

determined to save

The only life you could save (lines 34-36).

Ending the poem out she details how at the end of the day the only person that we can save on our journey is ourselves. We should not be so worried about the inevitable separation of relationships with other people or how other people's journey affects our own. But instead, realize that we are all on our own path to making meaning one step at a time.

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