It’s curious that traveling can stimulate the imagination.  For centuries, writers have used road trips or journeys to bring up deep emotions and thoughts, much the way a brisk walk might stimulate the heart.

There seems to be a definite parallel between the journey one makes across land and the journey one makes into ones own heart. One experiences life differently while traveling.  It’s like an exercise in relativity: ones experience of time is relative to the speed one is moving.

An earlier post examined the relativity of time in narrative. Stories take us out of time into another world, sending us on a journey into our own hearts to be deeply changed.

This for me is why stories are spiritual experiences and should be treasured and should be taken very seriously.