Could the unexplored path be a better choice? A recent trip to Annie’s Canyon and a personal journey through the realms of academia have led me to ponder this timeless question.
A Recent Visit to Annie’s Canyon: Is the Untraveled Road a Better Choice?
Our family had visited Annie’s Canyon multiple times over the years. We always started from one side of the trail until the most recent visit when I simply searched for the place on my phone and started driving. We ended up in a new area, and I parked my car right at the head of a bike trail. We walked on the bike trail heading to the canyon, which is right next to the highway. The trail is paved and thus easy to walk, but I was thinking: Hm, there is quite a lot of highway noise and no view. After about half a mile, the road merged with a dirt trail, which turns out to be another route from the parking area, after I checked the map. It looked as though people coming down from a higher place had a nice view along the way, and I decided then that I would take this route on the way back.
A few hours later, we went back from the canyon, and I picked the other route. In less than half a minute, I realized that climbing the slope was not as easy as I had imagined, especially after being exposed to the sun for half the morning. But I still fantasized that after climbing to the highest place, I could enjoy the breeze, look at the scenery, and walk back easily. It turns out, I was too optimistic. When I reached the top of the slope, I was greeted by a downhill followed by another uphill. After that, there was another downhill and an uphill. Compared to the gentle bike trail we took earlier, this route with its ups and downs was much longer and more physically demanding.
When the whole family was exhausted and got back in the car, I realized I had made a common mistake, always fantasizing that the road not taken would be better, but in reality, that is often not the case.
Reflecting on Choices: My Superficial Experience in Astronomy
This trip to Annie’s Canyon reminded me of my long-term reflections on my own major. I went to college in 1999, majoring in biology, which was the hottest major at the time in my country. Years later, my classmates and I began to realize that employment opportunities in this field were scarce, a path full of thorns. I often heard people around me complaining that if they had chosen another major, they would be living better now.
Is that really the case? I’ve thought about it many times, wondering if my career would have been much different if I hadn’t chosen biology as my major. Ultimately, my conclusion is somewhat different from my classmates’ complaints — that’s another topic — but I did try to experience another path, astronomy.
This was a field I had been very interested in since I was a primary school student, and for a long time during my adolescence, I believed I would become an astronomer. It wasn’t until high school, with the achievements in life sciences in the 1990s, such as the cloning of Dolly the sheep, that I was drawn away from astronomy. Despite this, I have always followed the exciting discoveries in astronomy and often thought about what contributions I would make in this field if I had chosen this route when I was young.
Eventually, I decided to get my hands dirty; I took an online course called data-driven astronomy. Not long after taking the course, I found it very similar to bioinformatics, the field I had been working in for almost two decades. It is about developing methods to get insights from limited and noisy data. After finishing this course, I felt I would probably end up with similar day-to-day work if I had chosen astronomy as my major.
Actually, it could have been an even tougher career path than biology. I had the opportunity to talk with a VP in a biotech company last year, whose major was astronomy but switched to the biotech industry after many years in astronomy. I was curious about the switch, and his answer was quite straightforward: there is no industry for astronomy. I didn’t hear all the complaints from astronomy people simply because I didn’t know them.
Similar to the choice of route to Annie’s Canyon, I had already picked an easier, if not to say, a better route the first time.
The Value in Exploring the Other Side of the Road
In these two examples from my life, I have encountered situations where I chose a different route or pursued an alternative path, only to discover that it did not necessarily lead to a better outcome. But I do not view these experiences as failures. Instead, they are an important part of our life experience.
As humans, we often tend to romanticize the unknown, leading to a mentality of “the grass is always greener on the other side.” This perspective can create a sense of dissatisfaction with our current circumstances and a constant yearning for something different. However, this belief is not always grounded in reality, as the unknown may not always hold the answers or the improvements we seek. The only way to truly discern the value of different paths is to venture forth and explore them firsthand. No matter what the outcome, we would stop the mental burden of imagining the “greater view” on the other side of the road.
Moreover, engaging in diverse experiences and embracing the multitude of paths available to us enriches our lives with depth and complexity. It encourages us to appreciate the beauty of diversity and the myriad ways in which life can be experienced and understood. Through this journey of exploration, we encounter people, ideas, and cultures that we might never have known otherwise, fostering a sense of connection and empathy that transcends our individual existences.
In Conclusion: Embracing the Journey of Exploration
Exploration of the other side of the road is a fundamental aspect of human nature, driving us to seek out new possibilities and experiences. Even when we venture to the other side of the road and find that it may not be greener, the journey itself is still valuable. It is through exploring different paths and making diverse choices that we grow and learn about ourselves and the world around us.
Most of us have already benefited from constantly exploring new routes in our lives. We change our workplaces, even careers, during our working years, to find the job that better fits our personal pursuits. We visit different parts of the world to experience various lifestyles and may move to the places we like most when the opportunity comes. This exploration also often occurs in our daily life, without being noticed by ourselves. Even when buying something as small as a snack, we try different brands and then find our favorite product.
The only thing to avoid is continuing to think the other choice you didn’t take in your life is better, but never trying to figure out whether it is the case. Or even worse, keeping such a mindset for things one has no way of exploring the alternative in their life. Such a mindset only breeds regret and hinders growth. Embrace your path, for every choice shapes your unique journey, teaching valuable lessons and opening new avenues for exploration and fulfillment.