I was once told that life is like a train ride, and that instead of being worried about the destination I should just focus on the journey -- because in the end that's what life is, the train ride.
Well I've got to be honest, I just think that sounds a little cliche. What about the work and the planning...how the hell are my dreams going to emerge out of staring out the window at the blurry landscape? Half the time I barely feel like my life is moving at all, I need a destination just to believe the wheels are turning and not rusted together.
The truth is I don't want to accept the train proverb because I am afraid. If I can't painstakingly drive the stakes into the ground, carefully measure out the distance to success, and plan my route -- how will I know it will happen? If I am just staring out the window I might not be on the tracks at all I might be a lonely caboose stuck in the middle of the prairies, a mindless blip in the field. Stuck and alone. Its really the fodder of every childhood horror story. But is also the foundation of every fairytale, it reeks of longing and potential, ...and it teeters on the brink of tomorrow, of hope, of possibility.
So here I am, a single girl in her twenties armed with a great pair of shoes, some bad poetry and a remnant of the naivety of youth. I am opening my eyes, staring out from window seat, and watching the train station fade into the distance.
