Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go) [Dierks Bentley]

I found this poem while poking around some folders on my computer in an attempt to avoid studying Latin. I moved a lot of documents onto Courtland (That's my Mac. Get it? I'm Courtney. It's an Apple. And to top it off, courtlands are my favorite types of apples!) and never really looked at what I had moved. I found my poetry folder, which was quite the moment of excitement for me. Some of the poetry I picked through was pretty bad, some things brought up emotions I had shoved pretty far into the back closet of my mind, and some was decent (all the while little Latin incantations flying through my mind like fireflies, is...ea...id...eos...eas....id...).

The following poem I wrote after a particularly unpleasant conversation with a friend who had asked me why I wasn't content with just settling down to live my life. I am living my life, thank-you-very-much. I just chose to live my life on the go, waiting to see what adventure is waiting for me around the corner. I like living my life the way I live it now because I know there will come a day in the future where I will become a (somewhat) stationary member of society. I know medical school and the subsequent years of residency and work will force me to plant roots somewhere and to make a stable life for myself. For me that's not much unlike what I'm doing right now. The difference is that, for me, medicine will be an intellectual adventure. And as long as I am having some sort of adventure, I will be fine. There are plenty of years ahead of me to be a productive, adult member of this world. Why start so soon?

I am not one to tie myself down to monotony. I don't appreciate knowing what tomorrow will bring. I don't like routines because I get bored easily. Is that so bad? To want to feel the wind in my hair blowing from the banks of a hundred lakes and oceans? To feel how different the sunshine feels on my face from the fields of fifty different countries? To travel enough to understand that the smile of a stranger can bridge the space that differences in language make feel like an uncrossable chasm? My worldview is one that believes there is so much world and so little time to view.

Despite the months which have passed (and I will tell you, it has been many, many, many months) since I wrote this, the sentiment still rings true within my heart. I hope you can enjoy and appreciate it (and me) too.

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For An Unnamed Friend

it’s sensible to settle down

to make money and pay bills

take your two weeks vacation

and spend a reasonable sum.

it’s sensible to give up childhood dreams

to acknowledge that we can only do so much

and to rationally decide on a path

which leads us to a comfortable life.

But sensible is something I avoid

in exchange for a smile from a stranger;

a memory that may cost me too much;

or even a year of happiness that can’t be duplicated.

it’s worthwhile to laugh at mistakes

take advantage of fleeting pride

live life without limits –

it’s sensible to prolong your youth

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I have also been trying to find some time to work on my mystery novel I started about a year ago. This life of mine seems to keep getting in the way of quality writing time. Hopefully over Christmas I can knock out a few more chapters. I can't leave my characters hanging over the abyss of the Well of Lost Plots.

Hopefully once I get done with this exam I can post some more of my Great Budapestian Adventure (and a nice, long post about fencing in Budapest, which is long overdue). But for now you get my random life musings. Enjoy.

XOXO