Line by Line - Verse 20, Lines 16-17

I seem to be carried about as on the sea,
drifting as if I had nowhere to rest.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,
Without direction, like the restless wind.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Such tranquility, like the ocean
Such high wind, as if without limits
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Other people have goals; I guess I must be aimless.
Like the wind. Or the waves.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

With the imagery of wind and waves, the word that comes to mind for me is unmoored.

When something is moored, it is tied to something else. It only can move a certain distance and, once the tether reaches its limit, it pulls the object back. In this vein, when we are tied to our desires, we can only move a short distance away from them BEFORE they pull us back to serving their whims.

By letting go of desires and expectations, the unmoored sage is not bound by convention. She can move where the flow of life takes her.

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