Walt Whitman has become such a significant figure in my life over the last two days, and I truly hope he stays that way. I just feel that I should go forth and make a claim for myself! I need to see this America, like it was supposed to be seen...in a conastoga.
Okay, the conastoga probably won't happen...I realize this, a car however, is my modern covered wagon. I've quickly, yet bitterly, come to grips with the fact that traveling across the country 15 miles a day isn't exactly productive. My dream of a conastoga has now turned into an aimless, yet meaningful, roadtrip across our great land to see what needs to be seen! I don't want to do it quick and get it over with, I want to take my time and go routes that are out of the way, I want to see this country for all its worth. If I could do it Alexander Supertramp style, I would, but I'm not that hardcore against society. I am feeling lost at the moment, and this is the only thing that seems to be the right thing to do.
I have already committed myself to finishing college. I will get my bachelor's degree in May and I will continue to work hard for it. This trip will happen. It is the task after graduating. I do not know when it will happen, but I'm planning now. I want this to happen within the next 3 years; if it doesn't I will be sorely upset with myself. I need to find what I want, what I need to be happy. I'm not unhappy...I'm just unsettled...restless. I want to be a pioneer for my own life. I want to find things about myself and push myself to new levels. The pioneers pioneered so we could live the life we live, but that doesn't mean we can forget what they did and how they got there!
This journey is to be a trip in honor of our pioneers.
oh. em. gee. YES.
ReplyDeleteFIRST OF ALL: i am the biggest fan of walt whitman i know! i like to read bits of "leaves of grass" to students and hope they retain some of his independent spirit. i should reread it right now.
SECOND: let's do it, friend. there are so many things i want to see in this great land that i have never laid eyes on (blue mesa? grand canyon? a REAL tee pee? the rocky mountains?) and i feel the same way you do about it all. so, let's make it happen!