(This may seem personal, but bear with me)
Over the past summer, my parents confronted me by saying that I needed to do something that would really bring me out of my "shell". They proposed that I go on a trip of sorts. So I did some researching (by that, of course, I mean Google) and I found a popular hiking/biking/service program called Overland that stretches across the United States. I was enticed by the "American Challenge". This is the trip where bikers cross the United States (literally from ocean to ocean) with 2 leaders and 12 high-schoolers. When I told my parents that I wanted to consider this, they asked me: "Why this trip?" A valid question; and one I didn't have an answer to until reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, History. Emerson says that one should learn from experiencing life, not by reading about it. He says: "Civil and natural history, the history of art and of literature, must be explained from individual history, or must remain words" (7). Of course, Emerson is talking about history, and not a bike trip, yet I still feel the same message applies. One cannot learn about himself by going through the motions at his old life. That is why my parents offered the suggestion of a trip in the first place! Emerson keeps me in check by writing in his other essay, Self-Reliance: "He who travels to be amused, or to get something which he doesn't not carry, travels away from himself...Traveling is a fool's paradise" (34). Aren't I traveling to gain confidence? This quote unnerves me because I feel that if I go on this trip, and gain nothing from it, it will be a waste. I am not going to study, to do service work, or to learn from art, as Emerson qualifies that past statement. I am at a standstill as to what to do. Maybe I should be a little bit more self-reliant, and decide for myself!
If anyone who reads this has done any trips with Overland, please comment on what you thought of it!
2 comments:
hah chip I think you are fine on the "out of the shell " part but big decisions like that can be difficult especially because it costs a lot and you really want it to be an enjoyable experience. Even though I think it is useful for you to use Emerson's words as a guide I also believe that Emerson was merely a man himself and couldn't know all truths to life. Everyone is a different unique person who learns and experiences life in different ways so don't constrain your decision making to one philosopher but I do say go with your gut feeling.
I haven't done any Overland trips, but I have heard a lot about them. My best friend went on a biking trip two summers ago and loved it, and she told me I should consider doing one. Two of my other good friends did a service trip this past summer and loved it too. From talking to my friends, I know that the Overland program puts a strong emphasis on taking away modern conviencences like cell phones, and ipods so the people can connect with nature without these daily distractions. Emerson and Thoreau would be proud!
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