The Truth About Wild Spirits & Wanderlust

We constantly feel out of place. In a world run by lethargic routines, we would often look around, watching people on the streets, in offices, in family gatherings, wondering how the rest of them get by everyday with such a breeze. Because in our heads thrive an unkindness—ravens flocking wildly all day long.

We are home, but we never quite feel at home. Because the road is where our hearts are, and where our hearts are, there is home. We are fishes out of water, holding our breaths until we can finally swim away again. Back into the wilderness where gypsies, nomads, drifters, and wanderers roam. Only with them shall we feel a belonging once more.

We are the lonely and the happy. The Eleanor Rigbys of this world, wondering if in moving, salvation might exist. And so we keep leaving. We are the ones burdened by sleeplessness when the day has passed and there no longer is light left around to disguise our longings. But we are the full of bliss, the ones who would recklessly drop everything on the shore as we run towards the waves at midnight. In the waters we would see a reflection of the blanket of stars above, and in this reflection we shall see ourselves. Because it is a mirror of the infinite explosion we currently are. We are the ones who lay on the sand hand in hand tired, happy, and sad after fleeting moments of exhilaration, worrying about nothing and everything all at the same time.

We are the peaceful and the wild. We are the ones who avoid confrontation, always giving, trusting, and never understanding why there is always money for war but not for food and shelter for who needs it most. But we are the wild, marching into battles not ours, taking punches for friends we love like family. Our hearts are always seeking adventure, change, and excitement, constantly bursting with gratitude for all the good things in life. We are the ones who jump, no matter the distance, no matter the depth, no matter the fear that almost made us not go. But in the end we always do. Because we are the lionhearted.

We are the burdened and the unburdened. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, often forgetting that we don't have to. Yet we can pack our lives in small backpacks, leaving out all fears and hesitation, taking with us but a few clothes and a mighty space in our hearts for beautiful, endless possibilities.

We are the high and the grounded. We are the ones always taking flight, our heads perpetually in the clouds. We have dreams so big, like set foot on all the countries of the world or find a way to end global warming and poverty, that people stare back at us with blank expressions on their faces. But the truth is our dreams really are so simple, like move to Chiang Mai to nurse rescued elephants, teach English to young monks in Nepal, or be an apple picker living in recluse in New Zealand that people would stare back at us again with the same blank expressions we have gotten so used to seeing.

We are the restless and the still. We keep moving because the world is beautiful, and there will always be so much to see. We cannot stand corporate jobs and being confined in shiny office buildings in the big city. Talks of money bore us. Passion is what keeps us alive and going, even though it sometimes means being hungry. We simply cannot be caged. For we are the free people.

We are the restless, and we will wander until we find ourselves in some exotic little beach island, where the air is sweet and the people friendly. It is waking up to views of limestone cliffs so close outside our windows, and letting the golden light of morning seep into our skins—fueling us up from the inside. We will be walking down quiet roads and dirt paths, but for once in our lives, we will not be afraid. Because we know what will be there at the end. The sea will be waiting. And our souls will know that we are home. Only then will our restless hearts be still.

We are the selfish because all we want is to be free. And we are the selfless, because we understand that no matter the geography, all human pain is valid and real. We are the loveless, because those who try to keep up with us get tired so easily. And we are the full of love, because we have crammed an entire world of beautiful strangers inside our hearts.

We are the extremes. There are no in-betweens. This is the curse and the blessing of choosing to live a life on an uneven keel. But though life will constantly be an array of equally extreme highs and lows, we will never be disheartened. We will weep, and then we will forge on. Because despite our wild, wild hearts, this one truth we shall always know—these lows are but a small price to pay for living a life so wonderfully, infinitely, grand.