“The best things of mankind are as useless as Amelia Earhart’s adventure. They are the things that are undertaken not for some definite, measurable result, but because someone, not counting the costs or calculating the consequences, is moved by curiosity, the love of excellence, a point of honor, the compulsion to invent or to make or to understand. In such persons mankind overcomes the inertia which would keep it earthbound forever in its habitual ways. They have in them the free and useless energy with which alone (wo)men surpass themselves.
Such energy cannot be planned and managed and made purposeful, or weighted by the standards of utility or judged by its social consequences. It is wild and it is free. But all the heroes, the saints, the seers, the explorers and the creators partake of it. They do not know what they discover. They do not know where their impulse is taking them. They can give no account in advance of where they are going or explain completely where they have been. They have been possessed for a time with an extraordinary passion which is unintelligible in ordinary terms.
No preconceived theory fits them. No material purpose actuates them. They do the useless, brave, noble, the divinely foolish and the very wisest things that are done by (wo)man. And what they prove to themselves and to others is that (wo)man is no mere creature of her/his/they(?) habits, no mere automaton in her routine, no mere cog in the collective machine, but that in the dust of which she is made there is also fire, lighted now and then by great winds from the sky.”
Walter Lippman on Amelia Earhart
Final musings before the sh*t gets real. This eloquent quote answers the question “Why” and sums up what I could never articulate.
(Photo taken by Michelle LaFountaine in front of Goodwill. Owner went in to look for dice.)
Great quote! Funny bike….why not!
Yes, that’s the answer. Why not? Although now that I’m actually here in Bolivia, I’m starting to come up with some reasons why not! Lol!!
Denise, I wish you safe travels as your journey begins and am looking forward to your posts. The quote “but that in the dust of which she is made there is also fire, lighted now and then by great winds from the sky.”
I want to affirm this quote from your post. We so much concentrate on the “dust” which is simply the Biblical metaphor for our physical bodies being a wonderful compilation of the Elements on the Periodic Table which have been ordered in a miraculous pattern to form our physical existence. The “fire, lightened… by the great winds” is an important image to show that we are more than “dust”, thus, our desire to do unusual things due ton a creative identity that can not be explained through “dust”. May “winds from the sky” keep your “fire” burning in motivating your “dust” to fulfill you dreams of this trip especially those surprises that occur when your plan is changed due to the unpredictable winds. Enjoy. Ron En Vino Veritas 🙂
From: Dispatches From a Long and Bumpy Road To: r_vandyken@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2016 2:41 PM Subject: [New post] Why? Because! #yiv6602082127 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv6602082127 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv6602082127 a.yiv6602082127primaryactionlink:link, #yiv6602082127 a.yiv6602082127primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv6602082127 a.yiv6602082127primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv6602082127 a.yiv6602082127primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv6602082127 WordPress.com | dispatchesfromalongandbumpyroad posted: “Final musings before the sh*t gets real. This eloquent quote answers the question “Why” and sums up what I could never articulate…”The best things of mankind are as useless as Amelia Earhart’s adventure. They are the things that are undertaken not f” | |
Ron, thanks for this eloquent interpretation of that final sentence. I find myself reading it over and over again to understand it each time in a deeper way.
Ya, I just read it again as it applies to my life in this present moment. Hey, that was pretty good! 🙂 Ha, it was one of those flowing moments. I got lucky. So I never seem to get into your blog the same way which must be why I have comments in different places. Oh I so need tech help! Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you experience spontaneous surprises. Good ones! Be safe.
So funny because I feel like I never get into this blog the same way twice either! It’s all part of the fun learning curve. Saludos!
Denise, I am still confused on how or where to comment on this blog, but let’s see what happens. A few traveling questions: 1. It seems that you arrive in a city and stay a while exploring the city and surrounding area. So while doing that are you using local transportation rather than riding? 2. If so, then do you do the bike riding when moving on to another city? 3. How for ahead of time do you book accommodations and decide on Points of Interest? Finally, I get the feeling that you decide on particular Points of Interest by a combination of previous research and spontaneous moments from local interactions. True?
Hola, you are replying in the correct place! I was in La Paz for a couple weeks because I wanted to both acclimatize and I have this crazy idea to interview women I meet along the way who are doing things non-traditional or who are innovative or who are being brave in their own right. So that’s the plan but it could change tomorrow. I am now in Oruro which is 3 hours away from La Paz (although it took 7 hrs to get here). Dana, the guy I will ride with until Mendoza, and I will leave from here to bike tomorrow. The stretch of highway wasn’t great out of la Paz so we decided to start from here. From here on out it’s just biking until Ushuaia then I’ll regroup after that. Whew! Lots going on and over-ambitious as usual. All I can do is try!
Hope all is well with you!
Ok, good. I will communicate via this method. Have a great ride tomorrow. Looking forward to pics and commentary. You are a talented writer. Great voice, description and exactness in your writing. Our bike ride had SNOW yesterday high above Boulder! Ah Fall has fallen, but I will “spring” to Merida in a few weeks for mucho Sol!
Oh, and it’s not crazy to interview strong creative women. We live in a world society that still needs to make progress in eliminating cultural biases. Good for you. (That written from a guy who brought his daughter up to conquer the world!)
Denise, YAY! So happy you are in Bolivia. Have you met any cool animals yet? Hoping the wind does not rush out of your sails until this inspiring voyage is a multi-dimensional memory! Peace and Lovies, Linds
Linds, I think the wind rushed out of my sails upon landing at 13,000 plus feet in La Paz! Knocked me out. Ended up sleeping 20 hours the first day. Surely, that is a world record!