On a less cryptic note, the road I've traveled has been, well, curvy. I've lived for two or more years in five different countries on more than half that number of continents (did I say less cryptic?), collecting languages, degrees and even nationalities (shhhhh). Oh, I'm not a practicing Buddhist, though Gautama gets full respect. I figure in this neck of the woods a god-substitute might be more apt.
An art teacher once told me that, to begin to see an object in an impressionistic way, I should squint. I think these profiles should be read the same way.