When I was young, it was common to hear the long sigh and then “oh here she goes again on one of her irrelevant tangents”. And then usually laughter – half exasperated and half impressed – when the realization sunk in that the detour was neither irrelevant nor a tangent.
As really, what is an irrelevant tangent? Aren’t some of the best discussions sparked by the meanderings of the mind? The random topic that leads you down a surprising thread? Just as the best discoveries are made in the dusty forgotten corners of the building or along the smaller Blue Highways of the trip? Or, yes, as the famous poem tells us, down the path less taken?
In that sense, all tangents are actually relevant and irrelevance is, well, irrelevant. Every moment offers us learning, growth and experience. It is an education that we should not miss; made up of disparate parts, bits and pieces, even flotsam and jetsam – all tiny threads of knowledge.
So, it is not surprising that my own life has been and continues to be a series of tangents, all relevant in their irrelevance and irrelevant in their relevance.
Relevant Tangents is about those threads. Those bits and pieces that make up the whole. The digressions and asides in life that are often the main paths of our journey.
