Twenty Bucks & A Full Tank of Gas

So why exactly did I come here with only twenty bucks and a full tank of gas? The reasons are many, but mainly to get away from the same old routine and experience each day fresh and anew again. A major reason people snap in the modern world is due to the rising pressures of making a living while simultaneously maintaining one’s sanity and personal integrity. Freed from these burdens, one is more readily afforded the option of waking up every day with a clean mental slate, similar to childhood.

Why do our mental states shift whenever we take a vacation? What prevents one from operating at home with the same at-ease carelessness one experiences while being on the road?

It may sound cliché and idealistic to you, but the road frees me. It’s a trip how easily and imperceptibly that vermin complacency can turn a man’s life into an unimportant little charade. Think of how we often fall into monotonous routine; the same reactions to the same actions sprung from the same reactions as yesterday almost every day. Certainly such an existence, aside from any positive benefits it may provide, stifles creativity and encourages melancholy.

At the end of one particular day I posted up and cracked a beer in front of the TV at my friend’s apartment.

A bit later on some random channel, which wasn’t even one of those preacher channels, a sermon comes on by some dude with his entourage that didn’t quite portray the stereotypical televangelism idiosyncrasies, although strongly contending. At any rate, I listened to this guy talk for a few because I’ll usually listen to anybody until they rub me the wrong way or it’s my turn to talk.

He didn’t deliver the archetypal “fire and brimstone” that’s deeply ingrained in the American psyche. No judgment, no pulpit-pounding condemnation at other people…rather, his whole premise was actually sorta cool: that aside from dealing with our legitimate problems, God also wants us to enjoy the good things along with all blessings and opportunities in our lives.

I came to the conclusion that this was exactly what goes on when we’re on the road. When we’re on the road we enjoy the simple things: the scenery, the people we meet and maybe even the random snippets of passing conversation we hear in the convenience stores. A mind at ease and peace does not resist what is; rather, it accepts the spontaneity in life, and when we’re on the road we tend to take whatever comes our way with a grain of salt and loosen the closed-fisted grip we often exert over our own lives.

The master learns to be always on the road, always carefree and never unduly emotionally attached or overexcited. True liberation is internal and ever-present. The relative toil created under the burdens of existence does not justify a discontent or ungrateful attitude towards life. The situation of work does not have to conquer our souls; we have the option of counting our blessings or priviliges and being content regardless of the circumstances.

Be always on the road, at your job on the road, in your mundane domestic activities on the road, always on the road..and why not? For in the macrocosm, indeed our brief sojourn on Earth is nothing but a weekend trip with twenty bucks and a full tank of gas.