Member-only story
Are we there yet? Why “arriving” is so anti-climactic
If you’re anything like me, just the thought of packing your bags makes your heart sing. You love all of the preparations: scouring the web for the perfect deal, getting all of your traveled size containers ready to go, sprucing up your wardrobe. “What’s a few new pieces of clothing really going to do to my finances in the long-run?,” you reassure yourself. And in COVID times, well, maybe travel means driving instead of flying. Even still. You’ve got your road trip all planned out. And it feels good! Right? You’re going places. You’re doing something with your life. And accomplishing something certainly feels better than doing nothing, right? Maybe. Not all destinations turn out to be what we thought they’d be or nearly as exciting as we’d hoped. Here’s where the literal meets analogy meets symbolism. Buckle up.
As some of you may know, I’ve been chasing my dream of being an author for a very long time. You’ve probably heard this story before — it’s a classic. There’s a person [that’s me!], usually an artist of some kind [me again], who has something beautiful to contribute to the world. Against all odds (health issues, financial ruin, trauma, grief), they work tirelessly to become what they were all along, but in an externally valuable way (i.e. people finally pay them for it). They sacrifice everything until the world finally sees and values what they…
