“Walk All Day”

“Walk All Day”

I’m standing alone but still with my friends.
Their eyes watch from afar, 
their support shows no end.

I know there’s no pressure.
I’m the one who’s chosen this,
yet there’s something to uphold.
I just can’t put my finger on it.

My life is but a week 
from being tossed in the wind.
Am I giving up everything I’ve built
just to test my luck, again?

So far its been fun
pushing comfort to the edge.
It’s changed me to my core,
but there’s still a voice in my head.

I’ll fail.
I’ll get hurt.
I’ll fall flat on my face.

I’ll crawl back home just to find someone else in my place.
There has to be a point in running this never ending race.
Because life without meaning has no flavor or taste.

Us humans weren’t made for red lights and traffic.
For buildings or concrete, or water bottled in plastic.
Imagine a magician with no hat, wand, or magic…
That’s us without nature. Our story is tragic.

To hear and feel the sounds of your sight.
To live every day with what you dream of at night.
To look death in the face and stare back on your life.
Replace fear with courage, now that flame starts to light.

Run with the river,
and shine with the sun.
Take naps in the grass.
Make simple more fun.

Walk all day,
Or as long as you can.
Just to wake up tomorrow, and do it again and again.

Context:

As the trip of a lifetime nears closer and closer, I find my mind drifting into many pools of emotion. Some days I can hardly contain the excitement of starting my adventure on the CDT. The thought of waking up and exploring until the day is over sounds like a dream. Walking through wilderness, meeting new friends, watching sunsets and dodging thunderstorms.  Its intoxicating… and its where my mind immediately drifts during the mundane moments of normal life. Of course, these highlights are coupled with a tremendous amount of hard work, but the thought of working for myself in its truest form only adds to the excitement.

Some days are different though. Like most aspiring thru-hikers, I’ll be quitting my job to entertain such an adventure. Even with the promise of my position being held (for which I’m extremely grateful), this fact is quite heavy. In order to start the trail with a decent weather window, I’ll have to cram the last month of college classes into just a few days. I can’t afford to pay rent while I’m away, so I’m slowly packing up my life into cardboard boxes and containers for storage. I’m counting down the days until my life turns into something entirely different. In short, its a bit scary.

This poems helps remove some of that weight and reminds me of why I’m thru hiking, and why we should do the things even though they sometimes scare us.