On the road and off the grid. This is an apt analogy for disconnecting from the “madding crowd” and the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Many Americans today are getting on the road as Jack Kerouac did back in the 1950s, when he and his friend, Neal Cassady, went adventuring across America. However, Americans today, I believe, are going on the road for a different reason than Messrs. Kerouac and Cassady. Many are on the road looking to re-discover the America of their childhood and to connect with other Americans who feel the same pull. They are also getting away from big city life with all its stresses and problems.
The coronavirus lockdown was a red flag for many of us that big city living is not that conducive to living a healthy life—too many people confined in too small an area. To my way of thinking, most Americans need room to breathe, thrive, and prosper. Small town America is calling many of us, and I believe rightly so.
I also believe there is another more personal dimension to going on the road. Every so often, we should stop and take stock of where we are in our lives. The short exercise that follows may be helpful in structuring that “taking stock.”
An Exercise Of Sorts
Find a quiet spot in the shade of a tree while you are on the road, literally or figuratively. Sit down with a pen and a pad of paper and reflect on your life. Do this as often as you can but ideally at least once a month.
Record your thoughts and think about what else can be accomplished in the remaining years of life. All of us now have some wisdom (such as it is) and understanding of life that can be put to good use in our family and our community. Put aside your ego and look at what legacy you would like to leave behind. One concrete example of this is to write the seven words for your tombstone epitaph that will describe you to the world when you leave this mortal coil. Don’t allow others to write your epitaph, because only you really know what you were about and what your life meant.
Links
External: https://theasianantiquarian.com/
Internal: https://whitebeardwisdom.com/how-are-you-viewing-your-life/