Adventurous Thoughts
Sometimes....Well...more than sometimes, I get bored sitting in an office all day. I can think of about a thousand things I'd rather be doing. Like rock climbing or SCUBA diving or deep sea fishing or skiing or searching for some ancient Inca/Aztec/Egyptian/Phoenician ruins that hold the true key to the origins of human history. But I don't do any of these things. Instead I go to work each day at 10 AM and go home at 7 PM. My life is nothing if not routine.
I wish my life was more like Jaques Cousteu or Indiana Jones instead of Dilbert but that seems to be the way things have happened for me. I read books by Clive Cussler, Jon Krakauer and others about searching for buried treasure or climbing into the heights of the Himalayas or searching for the lost secrets of mankind.
I've always had more than a passing case of wanderlust. Looking up into the sky at night and seeing the stars, I'm still as amazed by how distant they are and yet as real as the ground I'm standing on. It always feels me with a sense of awe. There's all that space out there and I'm just this little being standing on this little world that's in the corner of one galaxy among countless others in the universe. I think about how the Earth is probably like a grain of sand in the desert of the universe and I am like an atom in that grain of sand. I think about how there's so much to see, so much to know, so much to experience and within my lifetime, I will never know or see or experience even a minute fraction of all that is out there. I also know that when it comes down to it, I'm just one of six billion and something people on the Earth and I'm not really that significant in any way. I'm probably not so much more intelligent or talented or gifted than anyone else.
It seems like thinking this should cause me to feel discouraged, but instead it makes me feel inspired although I can't say exactly why. Maybe I am pitifully insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I tell myself, but I'm going to do all that is in my power to experience all that I can, to soak up all the knowledge that I am able to learn, to make a mark on this world somehow. If I think about these kinds of things hard enough and let myself go with it for long enough, I will literally get chill bumps.
I get the same feeling from looking out on the ocean. I think of how long those waves splashing against my feet have been crashing onto this beach. I think of how deep and vast the ocean really is. I think about ancient explorers who left their homelands without any idea of what awaited them out there on those vast ocean waters. Thinking about all of these things gives me a spiritual feeling.
But I can't keep it for long. Soon it's back to work again, back to the mundane reality of my life. It's not so bad really. But I think it should be more. I think I can do more to make it more if I really put my mind to it. My mind runs endlessly looking for ways to make that happen.
I could go off on some wild trip or something I suppose, but it would seem irresponsible to me. A good man has to take care of his responsibilites first and if he has a chance for a little adventure, that's a bonus, if it doesn't happen...then oh, well. You have to take what you have and mold it to be as much as it can I tell myself. A man has to be practical, patient and prudent as well as being a dreamer.
"All men dream," Lawrence of Arabia is said to have said. "But not equally. Those who dream by night within the dusty recesses of their mind awake in the day to find that it was vanity. But dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."
I like to think I'm one of those dreamers of the day. Now I've just got to get to work to make something happen.
I wish my life was more like Jaques Cousteu or Indiana Jones instead of Dilbert but that seems to be the way things have happened for me. I read books by Clive Cussler, Jon Krakauer and others about searching for buried treasure or climbing into the heights of the Himalayas or searching for the lost secrets of mankind.
I've always had more than a passing case of wanderlust. Looking up into the sky at night and seeing the stars, I'm still as amazed by how distant they are and yet as real as the ground I'm standing on. It always feels me with a sense of awe. There's all that space out there and I'm just this little being standing on this little world that's in the corner of one galaxy among countless others in the universe. I think about how the Earth is probably like a grain of sand in the desert of the universe and I am like an atom in that grain of sand. I think about how there's so much to see, so much to know, so much to experience and within my lifetime, I will never know or see or experience even a minute fraction of all that is out there. I also know that when it comes down to it, I'm just one of six billion and something people on the Earth and I'm not really that significant in any way. I'm probably not so much more intelligent or talented or gifted than anyone else.
It seems like thinking this should cause me to feel discouraged, but instead it makes me feel inspired although I can't say exactly why. Maybe I am pitifully insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I tell myself, but I'm going to do all that is in my power to experience all that I can, to soak up all the knowledge that I am able to learn, to make a mark on this world somehow. If I think about these kinds of things hard enough and let myself go with it for long enough, I will literally get chill bumps.
I get the same feeling from looking out on the ocean. I think of how long those waves splashing against my feet have been crashing onto this beach. I think of how deep and vast the ocean really is. I think about ancient explorers who left their homelands without any idea of what awaited them out there on those vast ocean waters. Thinking about all of these things gives me a spiritual feeling.
But I can't keep it for long. Soon it's back to work again, back to the mundane reality of my life. It's not so bad really. But I think it should be more. I think I can do more to make it more if I really put my mind to it. My mind runs endlessly looking for ways to make that happen.
I could go off on some wild trip or something I suppose, but it would seem irresponsible to me. A good man has to take care of his responsibilites first and if he has a chance for a little adventure, that's a bonus, if it doesn't happen...then oh, well. You have to take what you have and mold it to be as much as it can I tell myself. A man has to be practical, patient and prudent as well as being a dreamer.
"All men dream," Lawrence of Arabia is said to have said. "But not equally. Those who dream by night within the dusty recesses of their mind awake in the day to find that it was vanity. But dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."
I like to think I'm one of those dreamers of the day. Now I've just got to get to work to make something happen.
posted by Charlie at 2:29 PM
5 Comments:
I could never stomach office work for too long based on a lot of the sentiments you write about here. That's why I like working with kids. Sure there is a structure and routine that can become mundane, but at least each day has a tangible purpose. I needed that.
Hey Charlie - I came from Janet's site. Congrats on starting your own blog.
Interesting in that I often read those same types of books and have read most of Cussler's stuff. I also have some of the same feelings when I read those adventures in that is marketing work really what I want to do? And then I start thinking too much about it and what i'd have to do to go back to school, switch careers and I don't have it in me.
Merry Christmas, Charlie!
Hope you get the chance to update again soon:)
Cool blog, Charlie. I'm glad I finally had a chance to take a look at it. I leave to study abroad in Florence in a week or so and I expect that will be quite the adventure. Dream big!
Can you believe it seems someone stole the TiTMT question from me this week, along with another post of mine? Come look!:(
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