How Walking 2100+ Miles Woke Me
Metaphorically speaking I’m a caged tiger…
Of course my life is much better than that of any caged animal but similarities are there. Last night I saw a video on Facebook about a woman who could supposedly communicate with animals. She was conversing with a black panther who was very angry and growled at anyone who came near his enclosure. During the video the panther sat and stared out of his “night box” as they called it. We’ve all seen the look, whether it’s a tiger, chimp, or some other wild beast in a zoo.
I’m talking about that blank stare. You’d like to think their looking at you as you look back at them through bars and fences. I believe their not looking at anything physically in front of them but instead of some wild place that exists inside each of them. It doesn’t matter if they were born wild or in captivity. It’s there inside them regardless. It’s a primal need to roam and be wild. To do what they were born to do.
This is how I feel when I’m confined to a desk or asked to repeat the same boring task day in and day out. Like the caged tiger I yearn to be free to roam and explore my surrounds. It’s routed in my being and I can’t change it. It’s not a pair of socks I can simply slip on, changing it to fit my mood.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail was an awakening for me.
I used to say it changed my DNA but now I know it just woke what was already inside. It’s just like in the Marvel Universe where once exposed to Terrigen, if you have the mutant gene in you, it awakens and unleashes your mutant power. What I really mean is that lust for exploring and seeking the unknown is inside me. The Appalachian Trail awoke it and now I view life like that of the caged tiger, when I’m not able to explore.
As I sit in my cage I’m thinking of ways to be free of the confines of everyday life and trying to figure out how to live one that offers me the chance to roam and explore. Like the caged tiger who yearns to be free, I tasted the freedom of roaming on the Appalachian Trail and now crave it. The world is a big place and to some I have experienced so much, but to me it’s only a very small piece.
It’s now 9:38 am and this caged tiger has only 7 minutes left in his break. My time outside my night box is almost over. Then it’s back to staring and dreaming.