Roads Less Travelled
It seems like these days there are two ways to live. You can either be chasing the money or chasing the dream. It’s a real failure of our society that graduating college students, our future leaders, are finding themselves to be some of the most in debt individuals in our country. Because of that, a vast majority of kids are taking the first job they can get their hands on to spend several years getting their finances back to square one, and there is nothing ignoble about that. But it is disheartening because we kids have big passions and big dreams. I want to be a songwriter and a recording artist, but open mic nights aren’t exactly winning the lottery. This problem needs to be addressed, but what I would like to discuss is a tangent of this problem.
We often hear from older generations that we ought to “do it while we’re young” because in 10 years we are not going to have the chance. I think that is more a function of an unfortunate complacency our culture has developed than it is a systemic problem. There are no fingers to be pointed and no blame to be laid.
There is simply a chance, a revolutionary opportunity to spearhead a new status quo. Most of us are going to walk out of school here with a heavy load of student loans to repay, but after consolidation and tax credits we may only be looking at one to two hundred dollars a month. But here is something else: unless we owe our debt to the Mob (which I doubt any of us do), is it going to kill us? Of course not. Though it may make the next few years a bit more challenging, we can do it!
You may have to live in a smaller apartment or buy used furniture. You might not be doing a lot of clothes shopping and you probably will not be able to afford cable television. But is that paycheck-to-paycheck living worth it to the painter who can at least afford canvas and paints? I can tell you from my own heart: yes. I believe the greater tragedy is the unfulfilled life with the cushy bank account. I believe it serves our world as well as our souls to have a hundred broke poets than a thousand unhappy accountants.
In all the great dystopian novels and films, and all the totalitarian governments that have ruled, one thing is missing: the freethinkers. Those who take the road less traveled and challenge society are the most dangerous enemy to an oppressive government. Why? Because they have no fear, their truth is their treasure. They are cognizant of the way “the world works,” but they have a different idea. They claw their way through the woods as the silent majority saunters down the sidewalks. They take the long way home because they know that the journey is infinitely more rewarding than arriving at the destination.
These freethinkers, artists, philosophers, poets, writers, performers, and all the rest, are not magicians or blessed ones. We all are. They just took the leap of faith to believe they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
It is an unfortunate side-effect of the so-called “rat race” that we find ourselves so absorbed in our responsibilities that we forget to engage with that which is above all else, our heart. We have papers to write, books to read, a job, two jobs, and a multitude of other distractions. I think these things are a fundamental reason why the leap is so terrifying; we get used to fitting and being a responsible person.
Know this: the greatest responsibility you have is to your passion. It is what you were born to do and we have spent too many years undermining that. Some of us never even take the time to understand it because it seems to unrealistic or impractical. Give in. You owe it to yourself and the world. Fight through the hard times, the confusion, and the sleepless nights. I promise that you will discover the very best version of yourself, and with that more joy than you ever dreamed. I think it is appropriate to end with the words of Robert Frost, a truly free man: “I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence, two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” It won’t be easy, it won’t always be fun, but it will be real. And as they say, you’ll be living the dream!
