紆余曲折

うよきょくせつ
uyo kyokusetsu

Today's yo-ji doesn't really come from anything in particular. Rather, I just wanted to find a way to tie it into the video I'm going to post a little further down.

Uyo kyokusetsu is a combination of two words - the first means "meadering," and the second means "turning." It describes arriving at a point or a destination (or a conclusion) in a round-about manner. Therefore I translate it as:

1) taking the "scenic route" (figuratively)
2) having twists and turns
3) taking "your own path" on the way to a conclusion
4) the vicissitudes in life (on the way to a conclusion)

I also want to note that this is different from the yo-ji that Brett translated as "the vicissitudes." How so? This is somewhat more neutral - its more horizontal than vertical. I think of it this way - 紆余曲折 means having twists and turns, while 七転八起 means more having ups and downs.

On to the example sentence.

「人生の意味」を探していろいろと紆余曲折したんだけど、この曲に出会って初めて分かった気がする。
I had a lot of twists and turns searching for the "meaning of life," but now that this song has touched my life, I feel like I've gotten it for the first time.