Friday, July 22, 2011

sitting, waiting, wishing...

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream." -Author Unknown

At the beginning of this life-changing epic adventure, I had no idea what was in store. All I knew was that it was better than the alternative. According to our culture, at my age I should be throwing myself into the grind of work and paying bills without question. A majority of people in this world believe that this is the only option. You find your little place to live, you get the job, you pay your bills to live in your little place, rinse, repeat. I threw all of this out the window. I wasn't happy. I wasn't even slightly satisfied with what this life had to offer.

I have been on this road curving and speeding away from the known into the great unknown. Tomorrow is a question and even today can be uncertain. It has been nearly two months since this blog has seen any action and that is unfortunate but so were the circumstances. After much trial and error, our VW guru Eddie has finally brought the bus back to life! It has not been easy being stuck in Guntersville while the summer goes on around us. Matt and I had to forego a lot of the plans we had made this summer to get the bus back in running condition. If you know us at all, we still had a good time. We were able to attend the Bonnaroo Music Festival for free and see some of our favorite bands including Mumford and Sons. Most of the time, we worked odd jobs and hustled for money. Just recently we traveled down to Birmingham to sell art at What's on 2nd? and Matt received the good news that one of his art pieces was bought by the Birmingham Museum of Art.

There were moments that came as a great test for our ability to persevere. For the two weeks that we were without the bus, we lived in a tent outside in the Alabama heat. With no bus to work on and hardly any jobs for us to do, it was not hard for us to begin to resent the situation just from boredom. One morning, we woke up in a terrible mood. As far as we knew, no progress had been made on the bus for over a week and a half and our monetary situation was looking dire. At this point, both of us were upset, hot, and feeling pretty helpless. Matt and I decided that we were not holding up our end of the bargain. Through the strange workings of the universe, our situation was not getting any better because we had said we were going to be making art and working hard and instead we were just moping. That day, we turned our frowns upside down and began painting again. I guess the cosmos had it in for us because the next day we received a call from Eddie that said he had figured out what the problem was with the bus. Although our immobility this summer could be seen as a curse, we have quickly worked to make it a blessing and we are more motivated and inspired than ever.

The next few weeks are crucial ones in our relationship as well as our first test for the life we have planned on the road. Our plans are simple because there are no plans. We have things in mind we would like to do and will do our best to work towards achieving those goals. This weekend is one of great importance because we will be heading down to Eddie's in Gadsden to do the final repair work on the bus before packing it up and finally becoming the gypsies we hope to be. Over the next few weeks, we will be traveling around the South doing everything from seeing Furthur play in Atlanta to selling art on the streets of New Orleans.

I felt the quote at the top was very fitting. Dreams are not unobtainable but they do require the extra effort to pull yourself out of the ordinary and launch into the unknown. The miles may be many and they may even be endless but I believe it's much better to be on that road than sitting, waiting, and wishing.

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