Caged Tiger

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.

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.  I read a quote from a Triple Crown hiker who said, “No body hikes just two, you either hike one or all three”.  I find this to be very true about hiking but I also feel it spills over into my everyday life as well.  Hiking the Appalachian Trail  was an awakening for me.  I tell people it’s inside me.  What I really mean is that lust for roaming is inside me.  The Appalachian Trail awoke it and now I view life like that of the caged tiger.

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 tiger who tasted meat, 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 to be back in his cage in 7 minutes.  My time outside my night box is over.  It’s time to sit and stare…

Scatman

Get out there!