Sunday, July 22, 2007

Restlessness

I have it again...which doesn't surprise me anymore, but does bring some guilt. Because I know my life is easy...really easy in fact. Especially compared to females under the Taliban (Hosseini's gripping 2nd novel) or friends in my close circle who've lost mothers and spouses and health.

But I'm not the only one...it's endemic in our culture, despite the constant choices presented to us every minute. Maybe partly because of those. Maybe our youth have it because they are not allowed to have freedom and responsibility (see previous post).

There are those who definitely have more extreme cases than others...the types that Jon Krakauer writes about. They climb very tall mountains. They sell all to live alone in a remote land. Some of us just start a blog.

I've noticed that after about a couple of years of college, right around 20, it often shows up. My oldest has it. So on a whim I bought her Erik Mirandette's The Only Road North. I knew nothing about it, but because it had to do with adventure and Africa, I thought it might appeal. Did it ever.

He writes about his service in Africa, his choice when restlessness descends on him after two years at the Air Force Academy. He chronicles about his naive, yet heartfelt response to the destitute refugees in Morocco and his strong desire to see the countries from which they were fleeing. This compulsion led him and his brother and best friend on a journey by dirt bikes through the heart of Africa. A riveting account of persistence, adventure, joyful comraderie and almost unbearable pain and grief, the book deals with hard stuff without giving easy, canned answers. Some of the difficult questions Mirandette asks:
Would he choose differently had he known the outcome? Why did he feel so alone when facing death? Where was the God of "the valley of the shadow of death"? Was the cost worth it? And knowing who he is (an adventurer at heart) would he be satisfied with any less? Does restlessness have something to do with purpose? Is the cost greater if the restlessness or call is ignored, anesthetized?

1 comment:

Carol said...

You need to watch more Hannah Montana. It is a sure cure for restlessness