Give me that ever changing Horizon

I have become aware of a cycle.  I think we all know it and it's often discussed even in my classes about how today's society especially in America just expects everyone to go to school then college and now a days graduate school in order to live a full and successful life.  I have nothing against the cycle and am in it as we speak but I have just thought about it a lot recently and wonder if it really is the best way to go?  It's scary thinking about doing anything else because its like getting off the trail that so many have laid before us that says, "Go this way and you will end up okay."  Do we all have this inner burning flame that wants to just break free and pursue something completely off kilter or is that just me?  I also find it important to distinguish alternative aspirations with ignorance.  Sometimes I find myself wondering what it would be like to do something similar to Chris Mccandless and just live in the middle of the mountains and simply "exist."  However, it really isn't his specific adventure that I am envious of everytime I watch the movie.  What really makes my spirit jump is just the fact that he did not day dream about breaking free, but actually did it.  He put into action everything he would talk about to his sister and never looked back... well until his last days.  I think thats what draws us into the theaters to watch those kinds of movies.  We like watching someone else living the dream we wish we had the guts to do.  I think the simplest solution is to find what our passion is, whether that be becoming successful and living in a big house or painting masterpieces.  Find what makes us tick and then look at the ways in which we can pursue it.  Sometimes we get so caught up in going through day to day routines that we forget the whole reason WHY we are doing them in the first place!  Everyone is different and we all have our passions... whether we choose to go after them and how is something we should think about.  No one is holding you back, except those invisible ropes tied to the assembly line of today's cycle for success.  I mean, look at Jesus, He went against the entire flow of everything around Him and that's the Lord of our entire universe.  Maybe "stepping out of the line of progress" isn't such a scary thing after all?

In his own words, Chris sums up what I just ran around in circles trying to explain...


"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless


** you can read the entirety of the letter here
http://www.rewild.info/conversations/index.php?topic=1283.0