I have been taken with a song and music video.
This happens to me once in a while. Not super often, but relatively often. A song just resonates with me and I listen to it obsessively until I don’t get that feeling anymore. Lately it’s been with Indy Rock or Indy Folk (I’m not the best with my music genres).
Anyway, I’m smitten with the song Sleep on the Floor by the Lumineers. The song is awesome. The music video is amazing. Check it out if you have a few minutes.
Things like this strike a deep cord with me. The road. Escape. No plan, no destination. Just hitting the road and driving just for the sake of hitting the road and driving. Endless hope, endless possibility.
The essence of life.
I get a similar feeling when I watch the movie Into the Wild. A bit more extreme than the two characters in this music video, but nonetheless, the same exact motivation. The drive to throw off the shackles of an unsatisfying situation. To have the courage to just hit the road and keep going. Future unknown. Destination unknown. Purpose, concrete.
It’s not that I’m in a situation I need to escape from. Far from it. I enjoy these stories because people seizing their own freedom is incredibly inspiring to me. I watch this music video and I feel a glowing warmth in the pit of my stomach.
To me it’s a lesson and a reminder that we own our own lives. Fully and unconditionally. We are dependent on others only insofar as we allow ourselves to be. To see people take up that responsibility, even if it’s only picking up and setting out on a journey, spurs excitement and admiration deep inside.
People so often, myself included, feel trapped in a place or situation. They trust themselves so little that they remain in boring or even harmful situations their entire lives. They get so comfortable in their present circumstances, satisfying or not, that they lack the courage and creativity to see that anything else exists.
And though it may not be their fault, it is ultimately their own responsibility. To stay stagnant is on you. This isn’t being naive. We all have responsibilities, whether family or otherwise. We all experience external circumstances beyond our control, even if to different degrees.
The point is to do the best with what you’ve got. To always remember that you are in control of you. To always remember that, whether you stay or go, you are making the decisions that ultimately affect whether your life is one you want to live or not. The excuses you make to yourself are the very shackles that are binding you to your current, unsavory situation.
You can make anything work if it’s what you truly want. You can always find another job. You can view and use your family as a strength instead of an impediment in achieving your goals.
No matter how trapped you feel, your biggest obstacle is ultimately your own mind.
You have the power. You can hit the road and just keep going. Whenever you want. Never feel trapped because being trapped is an illusion in nearly every situation.
It won’t be easy. But it’s all about what you value and what you want out of your life.
Are you willing to sleep on the floor?